The Assembly on Monday passed a motion for speedy implementation of projects in New Town, reinforcing the government’s attempt to develop the township where the politics over land acquisition has intensified in the run-up to the 2011 Assembly polls.
With the Opposition — primarily the Trinamul Congress — vowing to nail the government for alleged forcible acquisition of land in Rajarhat, the government tried to send out signals that it was determined to remove the political hurdles impeding the development of the showpiece township.
The state government, led by housing minister Goutam Deb, has toughened its stand on carrying on with the development of Rajarhat since Mamata Banerjee launched an agitation demanding “justice” for the farmers whose plots had been taken over for the township.
The beleaguered Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government had recently allotted a 50-acre plot to IT major Infosys — companies like Wipro and Accenture already have plots in the township — in an attempt to force the Opposition on the backfoot.
The Opposition parties —Trinamul with its absence from and the Congress with its presence in the House — however, made it clear that the acceptance of the motion would not automatically ensure New Town’s development.
Manas Bhunia, the leader of the Congress legislature party, demanded that the farmers who had given up land for New Town should be compensated at current market rates.
During discussions on the motion, Deb said it was impossible for the government to accept the demand. “There is no law that says that the owner from whom a plot had been acquired in 1994 at Rs 1,500 a cottah should now be given Rs 1 lakh a cottah because that is the current price.”
As Trinamul continued with their boycott of the House, their leaders did not take part in the debate.
“We will get certified copies of today’s proceedings and discuss the issue among ourselves before deciding on the next course of action,” said Opposition leader Partha Chatterjee, who accused the government of denying Rajarhat landlosers their due.
In the past two years, Trinamul’s support base in Rajarhat has grown with the party cashing in on the discontent over compensation among a section of the farmers. During a rally in Rajarhat last month, she had rolled out a plan to launch an agitation to ensure a better deal for the farmers.
“It seems the Opposition parties have landed themselves in the Rajarhat quagmire and they don’t have any exit route,” said Deb, who promised to hand over to the Opposition a detailed document of the companies that have taken plots in New Town.