National

Don’t play with fire, says Mamata

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has ridiculed suggestions that the shifting of Tata Motors’ Nano project from Singur would affect her party’s popularity with the urban voter.

She was addressing a rally here on Sunday to protest against the arrest of party activists in connection with the October 4 violence in the Charu market area here in which the police station was attacked and vehicles there set on fire.

Ms. Banerjee’s agitation, which resulted in Tata Motors deciding to relocate the project, has been widely construed as an attempt to win the sympathies of the rural electorate even though shifting the project from the State might not have gone down well with many among the urban voters who see industrialisation as a means to generate employment.

Ms. Banerjee held the State government responsible for the Tata Motors pull out from Singur and renewed her tirade against the government for its failure to abide by an agreement signed between it and her associates (on September 7) on the return of land to farmers who had not taken compensation.

“We have been saying that we are in favour of industry as well as agriculture,” she said. “The government has burnt its fingers wherever it has planned to set up industry — whether at Singur or at Nandigram. Do not play with fire,” Ms. Banerjee cautioned, directing her ire towards Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

Ms. Banerjee said that she would be calling on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pratibha Patil, to submit reports backing her allegations of “State-sponsored terrorism” by the government. She called for a “gherao” of Lal Bazaar on October 20.