The CPI(M) at the highest level is confident that Tata Motors will not pull out of the state. The politburo is keeping a close watch on Singur events but has decided to let the state handle the issue.
?I am confident that Tata Motors will not pull out of the state,? said a senior CPI(M) leader in New Delhi. While he did not want to be quoted, he said the party will not say anything from Delhi as the state government is handling it. ?We do not want to create confusion,? he said.
Over the last few days the state unit of the CPI(M) has been quiet and has refrained from making comments on the negotiations underway. Even when Ratan Tata threatened to pull out on August 22, the party refused to react.
Here to meet ailing CPI(M) veteran Jyoti Basu, CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury said: ?I hope the four-member committee will find a way out to resolve the Singur problem in the interests of the development of the state.? Asked whether 300 acres could be given from within the project, as the Trinamool Congress has been demanding, he said, ?the state has to decide on that.?
But the deadlock over Singur seems far from over even after four days of deliberations. Asked whether the committee would be able to submit the report by Sunday, Rabindranath Bhattacharya, chairman of the committee, said, ?We have discussed at length and we will discuss again if there is a need for that.?
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress is sticking to its demand of returning 300 acres from within the project site.
Bhattacharya said: ?We have identified a few areas inside the project site. According to our estimates, that can make up 300 acres.?
Trinamool leaders will report Thursday?s discussions to Mamata Banerjee and the committee is scheduled to meet again on Friday.