Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Monday said a new automobile industry would be set up on the same Singur land that the Tatas had once acquired for its small car factory.

His statement came a day after the party faced apparent discomfort following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on industrialisation while addressing a rally on the same Singur land.

“There will be industry on the same Singur land. There will be an international automobile hub in Singur — something the people of the land, and we have dreamt of,” Bhattacharya said before leaving for Delhi on Monday.

Despite the BJP leadership extensively campaigning ahead of Modi’s Singur rally that the party would ensure the return of Tata, the Prime Minister refrained from giving any assurance on industrialisation on the same Singur land. He merely conveyed that industry in Bengal would be possible only after an improvement in law and order.

The embarrassment intensified as all three senior leaders of the state BJP, Bhattacharya, leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, and Union minister of state Sukanta Majumdar, had spoken in favour of the return of the Tatas and criticised chief minister Mamata Banerjee over her role in ousting the company from Bengal.

Modi’s silence on the reuse of the Singur land left farmers disappointed, many of whom publicly expressed their unhappiness after listening to the Prime Minister’s long speech.

When Bhattacharya was asked about the disappointment among Singur farmers, the Rajya Sabha member said: “Some people are trying to set the narrative that the people of Singur are disappointed. However, we have a deep connection with the people of Singur. The Prime Minister has made it clear that if there is a decline in law and order, industry or investment cannot come. He also urged the people to oust the Trinamool Congress government.”

At a news conference in Delhi in the evening, Bhattacharya once again said: “The presence of the Prime Minister in Singur itself sent the message of industrialisation. Some things do not need to be said explicitly; they are meant to be understood.”

On Sunday, hundreds of Singur farmers who attended Modi’s rally remained
disappointed.

“We went expecting a direct message from the Prime Minister. However, he delivered his speech more like a political leader. What was the problem if he had assured us of an industry? We think he is still not confident about his party coming to power,” said Doodh Kumar Dhara, a farmer and former leader of the Krishi Jami Raksha Committee.

The Trinamool Congress on Monday held a counter-rally to Modi’s Sunday meeting at Uday Sangha ground in Singur’s Ratanpur, a stone’s throw distance from the venue of the Prime Minister’s rally.

Trinamool leader Arup Chakraborty, state agriculture marketing minister and Singur MLA Becharam Manna, and others were present at the rally.

“How can Modi speak about industrialisation in Bengal when the state is the country’s topper in medium, small and micro enterprises? In July 2025, Tata Group chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran met chief minister Mamata Banerjee and assured her of setting up an automobile industry. Several other industries have already come and settled in Bengal, including a part of the Tata Group,” said Trinamool spokesperson Chakraborty.