Kamarkunda, Aug. 19: The battlecries getting shriller in Singur, Citu, the CPM’s labour arm, today held a rally to calm tempers.

On Thursday, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had said police action would be taken against “politically motivated” opposition to land acquisition for the Tata Motors small car factory.

The Krishi Jami Banchao (save farmland) Committee replied the next day with a threat of a “bloody struggle” if lands are forcibly acquired.

The Citu today said the government would not apply force on farmers in Singur. “We shall not go for police action to acquire land for the Tata project. Instead, we’ll try to convince farmers about the necessity of setting up industries,” state Citu chief Shyamal Chakraborty told the rally here, about 55 km from Calcutta.

Higher education minister Sudarshan Ray Chaudhury and CPM MPs Rupchand Paal, Anil Basu and Santashree Chatterjee also addressed the gathering.

Chakraborty said farmers who have been “misinformed” by some people have to be convinced about the advantages the Tata factory would bring.

“We will have to make them realise that if a factory is set up, it will immensely help not only them but their children as well. Thousands of youths will get jobs,” the Citu leader said.