Click to play videoNew Delhi: After a clash of words for days, the two sides seem to be heading for talks.
Climbing down from her hand stand, Mamata Bannerjee held out a ray of hope.
"We want a settlement. Let both industry and agriculture smile," said Mamata Bannerjee in an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN.
Sources have told CNN-IBN that the West Bengal Governor, Gopalkrishna Gandhi could form a 10-member committee to solve the Singur land row.
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 would preside over the committee.
And though the TATAs seem to have pretty much made up their mind on moving out of Singur, the Governor remains hopeful that they will be affirmitive in their response to the government.
"I am hopeful and I think I am not the only one who is hopeful. Everyone wants this to succeed. How it will go, we will find out soon. I have written a letter to Ratan Tata and he also wrote to me. I sent a third letter in response to say that it would be in the fitness of things to show that the TATAs were also in association of this process and that they have been invited to do so by the government," the Governor said.
On Tuesday, all roads to a solution seemed blocked with TATA motors issuing an ultimatum that it would suspend work at the Nano plant in Singur.
Barely hours after this ultimatum, Singur witnessed its first casuality. Sixty-five-year old Sushin Santra consumed poison on Wednesday morning and perished on his way to the hospital.
Santra had parted with his land for the TATA Motors facility in Singur and had sunk into depression after work in the facility came to a halt last week.
His three sons were employed at the project. A pullout by TATAs would mean loss of livelihood for the family.
Singur witnessed spurts of violence during the day with sections of local people with pro-Nano people preventing the entry of Trinamool Congress workers to the dharna side.
This could be one reason for Mamata to have agreed to talks.
Twelve people including Santra have died in Singur in the past two years. All of them got caught in the middle of a tussle which seems to be getting more complicated with each passing day and if the impasse doesn't get resolved quickly, more such tragedies are just waiting to happen.
At the Centre, similar confusion prevails.
In a U-turn from last week when Kamal Nath offered Central help to Ratan Tata, the Commerce and Industries Minister has now washed his hands off the issue.
"It's a state issue. The Centre cannot do anything about it," said Kamal Nath.
The Centre is faced with a major dilemma. Congress party sources admit that their hands are tied. Not supporting Mamata would not only mean turning its back to the farmers plight but also antagonising a potential ally.
But the UPA has also argued strongly in favour of SEZ and facilitating industry friendly conditions.
For now, the Congress has taken an easy way out - blaming the Left for not balancing industry and farmer interests.
For the Centre it's a choice between the devil and the deep sea. On the one hand is its pro-farmer image while on the other is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's stand that growth is possible with hassle free industrialisation.
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