New Delhi: It's the first working day of the week at the Tata Motors plant in Singur and access to the plant is being restricted after Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee launched an indefinite agitation outside the small car project site demanding the return of 400 acres of land to farmers.
Banerjee mooted a proposal to end the impasse that threatened to derail the car project.
Tata Motor's security personnel are limiting workers’ access to the plant. Workers are also being screened amid fears that some of them may be sympathetic to the Trinamool Congress.
Monday is the second day of the indefinite protest by Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee near the Tata small car site with thousands of farmers joining the party workers.
The National Highway 2, which passes through the area, continues to remain blocked and over 3,000 policemen have been deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
Meanwhile, sources have told CNN-IBN that Tata Motors is likely to launch Nano from its Uttarakhand facility if Singur agitation continues.
It is believed that the Uttarakhand facility in Pantnagar is the Plan B for Tata if Singur doesn’t succeed. The Pantnagar facility will make trial cars in the initial phase, according to sources.
Singur stir
Addressing a huge gathering from the dharna platform near the plant, Banerjee said that there could be a peaceful solution by utilising alternate low-lying land for the vendor park.
The area around the Tata Motors Nano car plant was turned into a fortress with massive deployment of security while the Trinamool set up 21 camps around the factory to house the protestors.
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As the CPI-M led West Bengal government tried to salvage the situation by offering to hold talks, Mamata rejected West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's proposal that the government was ready with a package and wanted dialogue.
"That is an old proposition. That will not solve the problem," Banerjee chief told PTI when asked about the proposal.
At the dharna, she repeatedly appealed that it should remain totally peaceful and that her party did not want the Tatas to leave but to restrict its small car factory at Singur to 600 acres of land.
Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and social activist Medha Patkar also supported Mamata's campaign and addressed the protestors.
States rush for Tata project
The Rajasthan government has invited Tata Motors to set up the Nano project in the state. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has also sent a delegation to meet the Tata Motors executives.
Punjab, too, has thrown its hat in the ring. The Punjab government has decided to invite Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata to set up a plant in the state to manufacture Nano.
A Tata Group delegation will be invited for a formal meeting with the Chief Minister so that every aspect of the proposed plant can be discussed.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekara Reddy has also made a formal proposal for hosting the project in the state two days after Ratan Tata threatened to walk out of West Bengal over continued violence in Singur.
The Andhra Pradesh government has indicated that land for the project is available on the outskirts of Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Kakinada or Naidupet near Guntur.
(With agency inputs)
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