ANI File photo
NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said a BJP government would bring the Tata Group back to the state and pursue industrial growth without repeating the mistakes that led to the Singur and Nandigram agitations.Addressing a press conference in Kolkata, Adhikari accused both the erstwhile Left Front government and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of failing to create a sustainable industrial ecosystem, alleging that one relied on forcible land acquisition while the other focused on optics rather than investment.”We will bring back the Tatas in Bengal,” Adhikari said, referring to the Tata Motors Nano project that was shifted from Singur in Hooghly district to Gujarat in 2008 following a prolonged dispute over land acquisition.The chief minister also took aim at the Mamata Banerjee government, claiming it had failed to deliver on promises of industrialisation.”We don’t want to indulge in lies and organise photo sessions like the previous government did to attract industries,” he said.On land acquisition, Adhikari said his government was working on a policy framework that would balance industrial development with the rights of farmers and local communities. “The government is working on its land acquisition policy. We are against forcible land acquisition, like what happened in Singur and Nandigram during the erstwhile Left Front regime. At the same time, we are also against the TMC’s policy of doing nothing while only holding photo sessions and spreading lies about bringing industries,” he said.Adhikari said the BJP would adopt a balanced approach aimed at ensuring industrial growth while securing public consent for projects.The Singur land acquisition controversy remains one of the most significant episodes in West Bengal’s political history. The movement against the Tata Motors project played a major role in the rise of Mamata Banerjee and the TMC, helping the party end the Left Front’s 34-year rule in 2011.
