Mamata relents under pressure

Mamata Banerjee is scaling down her defiance on the ninth day of the Singur agitation. She said on Monday, “We want work to resume in the factory. We are not against the Tatas. Let these there be talks to resolve the impasse.” Trucks were allowed to roll on Durgapur Expressway, as the agitators were asked to put off the week long traffic blockade on the NH-2 by the Trinamool Chief. Mamata Banerjee has come under immense pressure from with her party Trinamool Congress and she has very few options to choose from. Trinamool dominated contractor syndicates, who supply raw material to the Tata Nano Plant, vented their rage because of their escalating losses due to factory shutdown.

Leader of the Opposition of West Bengal Assembly house, Partha Chatterjee conveyed to the West Bengal Governor, Gopalkrishna Gandhi that Trinamool Chief was ready for talks over the return of land to unwilling farmers. Bur she wants a panel of experts from various fields viz. legal, technical, government, political parties and Tata Motors – at the talks table. Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya was quick to grab this opportunity for resuming the dialogue process that has reached a dead end. The CM also held talks with State Congress Chief and Union Information and Broadcasting (I&B) minister Priya Ranjan DasMunshi and Congress leader Manas Bhuniya. Mamata’s climb-down was already anticipated after the governor’s intervention