Mamata poised to redeem Singur promise tomorrow

Kolkata, Sep 13 (PTI) With the formal handing over of theland parchas to the farmers of Singur tomorrow, TrinamoolCongress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee is set to honour herpromise of giving land back to them. The West Bengal chief minister had made the promise duringthe 2011 Assembly polls campaigning, at the height of theSingur movement, against "forcible" land acquisition by theerstwhile Left Front government in the state. Although, Banerjee, after coming to power, had takenadministrative steps to return the land to the "unwilling"farmers, those where challenged in the court of law. After a prolonged legal battle, the Supreme Court, onAugust 31, ruled that the land acquisition process in Singurwas faulty and directed that it be returned to the farmerswithin 12 weeks. When the parchas are distributed among 9,117 farmerstomorrow, Banerjee can take comfort in the fact that herstance on land acquisition stands vindicated. Of the total 997 acres of land in Singur, the districtadministration has completed the survey and demarcation workfor 620 acres and 800 cheques are ready for distribution amongthe land-owners, Banerjee told reporters at the statesecretariat yesterday. She said altogether, 9,117 parchas were ready fordistribution among the farmers on September 14 when ‘SingurDiwas’ would be observed. Singur holds a special place in Banerjee’s politicalcareer as it was on this issue that she had held a 26-day fastin 2010. TMC vice-president Mukul Roy told PTI, "When the chiefminister hands over the land parchas tomorrow, it will showthat Mamata Banerjee and the TMC know how to keep theirpromises. We are not like other political parties who forgettheir promises after coming to power. It will also establishthat our stand on forcible land acquisition was correct." Another senior TMC leader said, "We honour our politicalpromises and Singur is the biggest example of that. This isthe Bengal model we hope to propagate throughout the countrybefore the 2019 Lok Sabha polls." PTI PNT MDRC