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

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Kolkata, Aug 20: 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.

At the IT hub in Sector V and adjoining areas, many business process outsourcing (BPO) and other firms chose to shut down rather than face picketers with red flags who were determined to ignore the `public utility' tag granted by state law to the 24x7 sector.

With only ambulances and press cars allowed to move on the roads, there was no public transport available, bringing all activity to a halt.

At government offices, it was an unofficial holiday with the only sign of activity being at the chief minister's conference room at Writers' Buildings. No other minister attended office.

Having forced life to a halt by using cadres, CITU state president Shyamal Chakraborty hurriedly called a press conference at 2pm, barely eight hours into the 24-hour bandh, to gloat over the "success" of the "peoples' protest" against the "anti-people policies" of the Congress led UPA government.

"I do not think that a one-day strike will scare away investment or hurt industry," said Chakraborty. He said the CITU had given notice well in advance of its intention to call a general strike today.

Business was cautious in its response to a ruling party bandh. An official of the Confederation of Indian Industry (eastern region) said: "We would like a conducive environment for industry… Bandhs should be minimized".

The best reaction came from three French tourists, who landed at the city airport today at 5.30am, before the strike began but found themselves stranded.

"This is my first and last visit to Kolkata," said Christoph Buland, who has been in India for the past three weeks and had made Kolkata his second-last destination. "I don't know if I will reach Delhi tomorrow." Buland and his two friends are scheduled to fly back from Delhi via a Finn Air flight.

The CITU said the biggest indicator of its success was that electricity demand fell by 542mw in the Kolkata area, and by 666mw in the rest of the state, on Wednesday.

It said the strike shut down 63 jute mills in and around the city, apart from industries and offices, and the Durgapur-Asansol industrial belt.

The general strike was called over a clutch of diverse demands under the general banner of "the Central government's anti-people policies."