Mamata apprise PM on Singur situation

SP General Secretary Amar Singh along with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banjeree met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday and apprised them of how farmers faced a tough time in Singur due to anti-farmer policies of the West Bengal government.

“I met the PM and President on behalf of SP and TC along with Banerjee and apprised them of how farmers in Singur and common man suffered due to failure of the state government and Tatas to honour an agreement brokered by West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi on return of farmers’ land,” Singh said.

Banerjee and her party were not anti-industry but only wanted return cultivable land to farmers, as per the terms of the agreement signed between her and the state government.

Accusing the Tatas of ditching people of West Bengal, especially Singur, over their failure to honour the terms of the agreement and leaving the state for Gujarat, Singh wondered whether Ratan Tata wants to be industrialist or a politician.

“Ratan Tata spoke about Good M (Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi) and Bad M (Mamata Banerjee). On what basis did he make this comment. Mamata Banerjee only wanted the surplus land of farmers to be given back to them, while we all know how ‘good’ Modi is.

“We want Tata’s reply by this evening whether he wants to remain an industrialist or a politician,” Singh said.

The SP general secretary, who had last month shared the dais with Mamata when she was agitating in Singur against Tatas Nano Car project, had said at that time that “they (Tatas) have acquired 1,000 acres. Trinamool Congress has only asked them to return the excess land to farmers”.

Singh said that both PM and President gave them a patient hearing and promised to take action in the matter within the purview of Constitution.

Pointing out that the TC leader has always fought for the rights of farmers, the SP leader said she will also agitate in Noida for the rights of farmers there who have lost their lands because of SEZ projects.

“I have met and told Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and Finance Minister P Chidambaram that the government should review its SEZ policy, as this SEZ is more of a Social Exploitation Zone, which is affecting the farmers,” he said.

Banerjee who was also present alongside Singh told reporters that they have “requested the President and PM to take action under Article 355 in West Bengal over the failure of the state government to honour the agreement which was brokered by Governor.”

Attacking the Left Front government in West Bengal, Banerjee said, “the Left parties had withdrawn support to the UPA government over the nuclear deal while they themselves failed to honour salient features of the agreement they signed with us over returning excess land to farmers in Singur.”

She wondered why the state government did not think of investing in infrastructure during its three decade long rule in the state.

Banerjee also criticised Tatas who she said “have money to publicise against us and there seems to be some politics behind their exit from the state”. She further emphasised that she only wanted a fair deal for the farmers.

 

No permission for Sonia’s Bhopal rally

No permission for Sonia’s Bhopal rally
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 20:06 [IST]

Bhopal: The Congress in Madhya Pradesh is finding it tough to get a place for the Oct 19 rally of its president Sonia Gandhi.

While the Congress alleges that the Lal Parade ground, where it proposes to hold the rally and where all the political rallies are normally held, is not being provided to them by the administration under the pressure of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, the Special Armed Forces (SAF), to which the ground belongs, and the district administration deny the charge.

“We wanted the ground for our presidents rally on Oct 19 but we have been denied it. The state government doesnt want Gandhis rally here,” alleged state Congress chief spokesman Manak Aggarwal.

SAF Commandant Sanjiv Shammi said: “We have requested the Congress to decide some other date because we are going to celebrate the Martyrs Commemoration Day which falls on Oct 21 and the ground would be occupied for the preparations of the same on Oct 19.”

Bhopal District Collector Manish Rastogi, however, said no one had approached him for the permission of any rally on the Lal Parade ground on Oct 19.

“Even otherwise, the ground cannot be spared on this date due to the Martyrs Day function to be organized by the cops,” he said.

Meanwhile, state Congress president Suresh Pachouri said: “The permission for holding the Congress presidents rally was denied by the state government saying the ground was a high-risk area.”

He alleged the permission was denied under pressure from the state government.

 

Sonia cancels Rae Bareli rally

Sonia cancels Rae Bareli rally after BSP government muscle-flexing

Lucknow, Oct 13 (IANS) Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has cancelled her plans to address a rally and perform a religious ceremony for a rail coach factory in her Rae Bareli constituency Tuesday after the Uttar Pradesh government imposed prohibitory orders in the area late Monday, a party spokesperson said. Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) spokesperson Akhilesh Pratap Singh told IANS that ‘in view of Chief Minister Mayawati’s directions to disallow the rally, our party president Sonia Gandhi has cancelled her plans to address a rally at Lalganj in Rae Bareli’. The move follows the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government imposing prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in Rae Bareli that prevents the gathering of more than five people in the area. The state government acted swiftly after the Allahabad High Court ordered status quo on a piece of land in Lalganj where Gandhi was to perform Bhoomi Poojan for a rail coach factory. Additional District Magistrate D.L. Verma, in a statement, said the state government, ‘using its discretionary powers, has banned any kind of gathering, rally or public address’ in Rae Bareli with immediate effect. According to the UPCC spokesperson, the Congress chief would, however, visit Lalganj to inspect the Lifeline Express Train, a health camp on wheels run by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation to look after the health needs of people in her constituency. She would also visit some areas of her constituency and meet party workers. However, the proposed Bhoomi Poojan would not be held, Singh said. The Uttar Pradesh government had Saturday night taken back the 400 acres it had allotted to the Indian Railways for the project. The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court Monday ordered status quo on the land while hearing a writ of Northern Railway (NR) and a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) of villagers of Rae Bareli. The court has given a week’s time to the state government to file a counter affidavit. The Northern Railway (NR) moved the high court seeking a stay on the Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to withdraw the land. Villagers and farmers of Lalganj also filed a PIL stating that the move of the state government would deprive the region of better development and job opportunities. A division bench comprising Justice Pradeep Kant and Shabiul Hasnain, while ordering that status quo be maintained, listed the matter for further hearing Oct 22. ‘The court has given a week’s time to the state government to file a counter affidavit and 24 hours to the petitioners thereafter to file a rejoinder,’ Mohammad Arif Khan, the counsel of the petitioners, told reporters after the hearing. Earlier, the court also summoned records related to the land and made a specific query regarding cancelling the allotment without giving proper opportunity to the petitioners. Meanwhile, the state government, through its counsel, told the court that it will not take back possession of the land from the railway. The railway, a few months ago, had acquired the land after paying compensation of Rs.85 million (Rs.8.5 crore), which the state government Sunday announced it would return. ‘The government also stated that it will not initiate proceedings of allotting the land to anyone else or initiate any construction work on the same,’ Khan added.