Click to play videoThe industry-farmer face-off continues in Singur. A day after Tata Motors expressed its intent to pull out the Nano plant from Singur, West Bengal Governor Gopal Gandhi on Wednesday took the lead in trying to resolve the crisis.
Sources tell CNN-IBN the Governor is planning to set up a 10-member committee to find a solution to the crisis. Five people on the committee will be representatives of the state government and the other five from the Trinamool Congress-led protest group.
The Governor also met Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Partha Chatterjee as part of efforts to identify a mediator to resolve the Singur crisis.
He has also invited former Bombay High Court Chief Justice Chittatosh Mukherjee, apparently to seek legal opinion on selecting a mediator.
But the larger question remains if Tata should pull out of Singur. What would it mean for Brand Bengal and how would that impact industrialistion in the state? CNN-IBN show Face the Nation attempted to find answers to some of those questions with a panel comprising Chatterjee, CPM MP Tapan Sen; adman Suhel Seth and former MD, Maruti Udyog, Jagdish Khattar.
There are rumours the TMC “movement” against the Tatas is witnessing a slow but steady divide, with many labour unions reportedly expressing support for the group.
But Chatterjee refused to admit that TMC was losing popular support. “People are with us. Lakhs are joining us daily. But the government and CPM are preaching to people that we (TMC) are against industrialisation and development. This is propaganda,” he defended.
However, none can negate or counter the fact that TMC has swept the local-body elections in Nandigram and Singur, indicating it commands a considerable clout in the region. The Left, in a certain sense, seems to have been unable to win over the masses in these crucial areas.
But Tapan Sen said it had been some time since that TMC victory. “We are in a different situation because of their irresponsible behaviour. They put us in a situation where state’s industrialisation was put in jeopardy.,” he alleged, claiming people who once supported Trinamool were turning against it.
Industry vs politics: Looking for common ground
But is it time for Tatas to consider sitting across the table with Mamata Banerjee and discuss issues with her? Many feel if industry leaders could acknowledge the political leaders and the influence they wield, it could pave way for an amicable solution to the development vs rehabilitation issue. Jagdish Khattar felt it was a difficult proposition.
“Tatas came to Bengal on state government’s invitation. The state govt took a very futuristic view of reviving the manufacturing sector by getting a major automobile manufacturer there. Now politics has crept in and then there’s no end to it. They (politicians) need to decide whether Bengal needs industries or not. Why should Tata Motors decide?” he asked.
Suhel Seth said the argument of whether industrialists should try and woo the masses on ground was a valid point but in the wrong context.
“What do you want corporate India to do? To become as sleazy, dirty and manipulative as politicians? Half of corporate India realizes they are in the same sleaze bucket. A respectable group like Tatas tries something and suffers precisely because of this” he said.
Seth also said the TMC “movement” being talked about was whipped up by the media and was also politicised.
“The business of business is to do business. Politics is meant for people who have no other major occupation,” he said and warned the international media was already abuzz about what the Tata pullout could mean for Brand India.
West Bengal Industries Minister Nirupam Sen has gone on record to term TMC’s demand for the 400-acre land as absurd and unacceptable, given the Calcutta High Court order. But Chatterjee, instead of replying to that argument, took on Seth for showing “disrespect to politicians”.
This led to a heated exchange between Seth and Chatterjee who said he would not make any comment on the issue before his meeting with the Governor.
“We are not opposed to Tatas. We have Tatas to set up shop in Bengal but the land they’ve occupied is a fertile land. They can use the 600 acre land and return 400 acres to farmers,” he said.
When asked for his opinion, Tapan Sen passed the buck to Trinamool and said it was Mamata Banerjee whose refusal to coming to the discussion table led to the crisis.
“The issue is political, no doubt, but who’s making the most out of it? They (TMC) are trying to fish in troubled waters for narrow political gains,” he alleged.
Seth had the last word on what would happen to Brand Bengal if Tatas were to pull out.
“It will be curtains. (Unfortunate because) a person like West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb is trying to get industrialisation and there’s a reformist PM who’s doing a double take on it,” he concluded.
SMS/Web poll results: Should Tata pull out of Singur?
Yes: 77 per cent
No: 23 per cent
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