Singur — the site of a movement against the setting up of the Tata Nano factory that is believed to have played a key role in Mamata Banerjee’s ascent to power — has once again become the centre of a fresh political slugfest ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s January 18 rally on a stretch of the project land.
Union minister of state Sukanta Majumdar, who visited Singur on Wednesday to inspect preparations for Modi’s rally, said the BJP would reinvite Tata Motors to set up a new factory on the same Singur land if the party came to power in the 2026 Assembly elections.
“Industry in Bengal will come with the help of Narendra Modi. The land that brought Mamata Banerjee to power will also mark the end of her atrocious tenure. Once our government comes to power in Bengal under Narendra Modi, we will meet Tata Motors officials and ensure their return,” Majumdar said.
The Union minister visited the residences of Singur farmers and invited them to attend Modi’s January 18 rally. A source said a group of Singur farmers, who once supported the movement against Tata Motors, but now want industries in Singur, will be seated in the front rows at the rally.
Earthmovers deployed to clean a barren stretch of the land in Singur on Wednesday
Although Majumdar said he could not speak about what the Prime Minister would say, several BJP sources said Modi’s primary objective in holding the rally in Singur was to send a message of industrialisation from the land where the process of setting up an automobile factory had nearly been completed over two decades ago.
In 2006, the then Left Front government, led by chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and industry minister Nirupam Sen, announced the acquisition of around 1,000 acres of fertile land in Singur to set up the Tata Nano factory. The then face of the Opposition in Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, launched a massive movement against land acquisition, demanding that no factory be set up on fertile land in Hooghly’s agrarian belt.
Following sustained protests led by Mamata, Tata Motors eventually withdrew the project and shifted the factory to Sanand in Gujarat.
“Now Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who as Gujarat chief minister had welcomed Tata Motors to the state in 2008, will address the people of Bengal on industrialisation from Singur, from where the Tatas were forced to leave because of Mamata Banerjee,” a BJP leader said.
However, questions remain whether setting up an industry in Singur is possible, as the Supreme Court in 2016 ordered that the state government return the acquired land to the original owners.
“So, setting up an industry would require fresh land acquisition,” an official said.
The Trinamool Congress leadership attacked BJP leaders for saying they would bring back Tata Motors to Bengal. Trinamool pointed out that the Tata Group had already invested in Bengal.
“In July last year, Tata Group chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran met chief minister Mamata Banerjee and assured her of setting up a new automobile factory in Bengal. They trust Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal as the best destination for industrialisation. The BJP must understand that the Nano car is a thing of the past, and such drama will not be accepted by the people of Singur,” said Trinamool spokesperson Arup Chakraborty.
CPM central committee member Sujan Chakraborty criticised both the BJP and Trinamool for their roles in driving Tata Motors out of Singur.
“When Modi visits Singur, he should hang photographs of Mamata Banerjee and his cabinet colleague Rajnath Singh whispering plans against industries during the Singur movement. Both the BJP and Trinamool are equally responsible for driving Tata Motors away,” Chakraborty said.
Several Singur farmers who had given up their land for industrial projects expressed frustration and said they now believe opposing Tata Motors was a mistake.
Doodh Kumar Dhara, a former leader of the Singur Krishi Jami Raksha Committee, which spearheaded the movement against Tata Motors, said that despite assurances from the state government to restore the land to its original cultivable condition, only about 300 acres became fit for cultivation.
“Most of the land has remained bush-covered and barren over the past two decades, making cultivation impossible. We have been demanding the restoration of the land to its earlier condition, but the state government has taken no initiative,” Dhara said.
“The areas where Tata Motors had laid concrete structures cannot be revived for cultivation anymore. So if the Prime Minister announces any industry on that particular stretch of land, we will welcome it,” he added.
Following the announcement of Modi’s rally, the state government deployed dozens of earth-moving machines to clear bush-covered land in Singur to make it feasible for cultivation.
Dhara said the farmers had raised this demand a year ago and had also written to the chief minister. “But the work began only ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit,” he said.
Former BJP MP from Hooghly and state general secretary Locket Chatterjee said the state government sprang into action only after the Prime Minister’s visit was announced. “The state government had no interest in Singur. Once the Prime Minister’s visit was announced, they suddenly launched a cleaning drive,” Chatterjee said.
However, a senior Hooghly district administration official said the scheme had been in the pipeline for several months and could not be launched earlier because of the monsoon. “The government had planned this earlier. Some people are trying to link it to the Prime Minister’s visit,” the official said.