The high voltage sabre rattling and political showdown by Mamata Banerjee over the land transfer issue at the proposed Tata Motor's Nano project site in Singur, West Bengal, have in some other way given chance to Gujarat CM Narendra Modi to be the cynosure of eyes from the industrial big shots in India.
Narendra Modi wasted no time to open up a smooth road for Ratan Tata to Gujarat, when the Tatas applied a 'sudden brake' to the Nano project in Singur due to the protests from Trinamool Congress activists. Ratan Tata atlast found a saviour in Modi who offered land and infrastructure to make Tata's small Nano roll out in a big way.
Modi should be really good at mathematics if not atleast in complex calculations, that he clinched the Nano deal with the Tatas pushing aside other competetors such as Andhrapradesh, Maharshtra, Haryana and Uttarkhand govts.
Ratan Tata said that the Gujarat govt acted at a great pace to facilitate the required land and infrastructure for setting up the Nano plant in that state.
Tata Motors officials said that the location of Sanand, some 30 km from Ahmadabad and its proximity to the Ahmadabad-Rajkot highway makes it a strategically ideal site.
The plant will be spread over about 1,100 acres, and will produce around 250,000 units initially and can expand to 500,000 cars annually, added the officials. It is expected that the project will generate over 10,000 direct and indirect jobs once the production swings in.
From Tata’s point of view, the site in Sanand is a good bargain as the land is already in the possession of state govt. That means no political drama like the one they faced in Singur will be staged.
With all these developments, the one who loses face is none other than Mamata Banerjee. She is being looked upon by various political parties as a ‘red signal’ to West Bengal’s industrial growth. Mamata’s claim that she had in her mind only the transfer of farm land from the Singur site to the farmers who was unrelenting to the West Bengal govt's compensations in exchange of their lands, is at the moment does not come to her help.
According to sources in the Trinamool Congress, the party wanted Tata Motors to return land earmarked for social infrastructure like schools, clubs, retail space, etc. from the 997 acres plot to farmers.
But the West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee repeated that the state government could not return land under the 1892 land acquisition law that the state government had invoked to acquire it, and which is Okayed for the Nano plant.
A scorned Mamata like some school kids complaining to the class teacher of being pinched by some naughty souls, went to meet President Pratiba Patil along with Samajwady Party's Amar Singh, to cry out how the Communist party and Ratan Tata deceived the 'Aam Admi' in West Bengal. Had the wonderful and most commonly played game in politics-'The Blame Game' not been invented, all the politicians in our country would have had a dry run for cover!
Arjun Singh of course is a king maker. It was proved when he easily maneuvered the UPA boat through the troubled waters during the July 22 confidence motion. Mamata also knows this pretty well. So what should have she had her in mind when she looked at the strategist in Amar Singh? Whatever it may, it would be premature for Mamata to dream that the newly worked out strategies can poke a hole in the Communist bastion in West Bengal.
Now a couple of questions loom large in the air in West Bengal. What would the Budhadeb govt do with the ‘empty’ land in Singur? Will those farmers who did not accept compensation from the govt in exchange of their land get their land back? After all, all the ‘hulla bulla’ in Singur was based on the land transfer issue, so what will be the climax?
For small Nano it has really made it big with all the hype and controversy that surmount it from the beginning itself.
It would rather bear a slogan painted on its body when it rolls out from Gujarat stable…
Mamata’s NO NO, Modi’s NANO, and the Farmers’ OH NO!
1 comment:
the title is damn cool!
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