The Singur procession by Nano supporters. (Ananda Das)

Oct. 19: The Save Nano Committee today took its campaign to the doorstep of the small-car factory’s opponents.

The Nano Banchao Committee demonstrated outside the Singur homes of Save Farm-land Committee convener Becharam Manna and local Trinamul Congress MLA Rabindranath Bhattacharya.

A strong police presence fobbed off a bid to gherao the two houses.

Nearly 2,000 villagers who had given up their land for the project — many of them young men who were trainees at the plant — and members of syndicates that supplied construction materials to the factory marched to Manna’s house around 11am. The police stopped them 20 feet from the door.

So the villagers decided to send their message through slogans — “Becha tumi Singur chhere dur hato (Becharam, go away from Singur) and Dekhe ja Mamata, Singurbashir khamata (Mamata, come and see what the people of Singur are capable of).”

In the afternoon, about 500 villagers descended on Bhattacharya’s house, which the police had cordoned off.

“The villagers of Singur are very angry with Mamata Banerjee, Becharam and the local MLA,” said Saday Kolay, secretary of the Save Nano Committee.

Mamata barb

Mamata today said Ratan Tata was behaving like a politician and should contest elections from Bengal. “The people will give him a befitting reply.”