As Govt & TMC look for Singur key, CPM locks down state

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The Trinamool Congress and Left Front government sat down Wednesday for their first-ever talks aimed at breaking the Singur deadlock, even as CPI(M) cadres ensured "special treatment" for the state's current and future showpieces --- the Tata Motors small-car plant itself, the airport that is now being modernized and Salt Lake's Sector V information technology hub ---- as part of their 24-hour industrial strike.

Partha Chatterjee, the TMC legislator deputed by party chief Mamata Banerjee to talk to the government over the TMC's demand for the return of 400 acres at the Tata Motors Singur project site to farmers, turned up at Writers' Buildings at 4.30pm to meet commerce and industries minister Nirupam Sen. They were joined by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

After the meeting, Mamata told reporters at her residence that discussions would continue although today's meeting did not yield immediate fruit. While Mamata has been adamant about the land return, the government has been saying it cannot be done with scrapping the entire project.

Today, Sen said the government has asked the Trinamool to suggest how the land can be returned. "It is not possible to return 400 acres," Sen told reporters around 7pm, after the marathon meeting ended.

Outside, CPI(M) cadres had ensured the shutdown of normal activity including work on the very project that their leaders were trying to save.

On Durgapur Expressway, along which the Tata Motors project has a 2.4km frontage, CPI(M) cadres from the Singur zonal committee organised roadblocks from 6am Wednesday, preventing project workers from reaching the site.

At the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, now being modernized and expanded, unionized employees backed by local CPI(M) cadres evicted the 7000-odd people who work for various airlines and support services, shut down the power supply and locked the gates.

Various airlines, including international ones, cancelled or rescheduled a total of 295 flights to and from the city. Only five domestic and two international flights could operate, as they were timed before the strike took effect.

But life was normal at 30,000ft above sea level, where 750 aircraft ply daily along the air corridor over Kolkata to east and south-east Asia. The strikers spared the air traffic control (ATC) staff, which are in any case categorized as essential under law.