M A I N   N E W S

NDA backs Mamata, seeks help of President
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 27
The NDA today decided to seek President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s intervention to save the life of Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, who has been on an indefinite fast for the past 24 days in protest against the acquisition of fertile land for the Tata Motors project in Singur in West Bengal.

The NDA meeting, chaired by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and held at his residence, decided that a delegation would meet Dr Kalam on his return to Delhi and seek his immediate intervention to resolve the situation as Ms Banerjee’s condition was deteriorating every day.

The entire country was worried about her condition and the UPA government at the Centre and the CPM-led West Bengal Government should be held responsible if anything untoward happened to Ms Banerjee. If the Prime Minister refused to intervene, the NDA would plead with Ms Banerjee to break her indefinite fast with a promise that they would do everything possible to bring her agitation to a victorious conclusion, a resolution adopted at the meeting said.

Briefing newspersons after a meeting of leaders of the NDA parties, BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra said the NDA expressed its solidarity with Ms Banerjee’s agitation to uphold the land and livelihood of the farmers in the face of high decibel propaganda of the CPM. The farmers were terrorised by the police and the CPM cadres to part with their lands and accept whatever compensation handed over to them, the meeting said.

“There is no justification for taking over multi-crop farm land and uproot the agriculturists when the industry could be allowed to come up in uncultivated waste lands or be located in single crop producing lands,” he said.

The resolution expressed dismay at the ‘double standards’ of the UPA government in rushing a team led by Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz when a handful of agitators created disturbances against the raising of dam height of Sardar Sarovar dam since the beneficiary states happened to be ruled by the NDA. The government instigated trouble but the timely intervention by the Supreme Court saved the day and prevented further mischief, the leaders noted.

The resolution said the government should talk to the Tatas and return the lands of farmers, who were not willing to part with the land and who had not availed of the compensation. The state government should renegotiate with the Tatas to give up multi-crop land and accept an alternative site for their township and real estate project. The Prime Minister should speak to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and ask him to take into cognisance, the ‘explosive nature’ of the situation.