A yellow Tata Nano is the vehicle of choice for Rabin Deb, the CPM's candidate from Singur, from where Mamata Banerjee's land movement had driven out the small-car project.

Deb kicked off his poll campaign in the yellow Nano on Thursday and visited several villages in the Beraberi gram panchayat.

He reached Singur in an SUV but later switched to the small car that belonged to a party worker.

Asked why he chose to move around in a Nano, Deb said: "I travelled in a Nano for the first time today. I felt sad as this car was supposed to have rolled out from the plant in Singur. But the factory was shifted to Sanand in Gujarat. That day was a black day for the people of Singur. I told the people of Singur to give a befitting reply to Trinamul in the Assembly polls. We have promised them that there will be a factory in Singur."

Deb also walked some stretches inside the villages while speaking to residents with folded hands.

"She (Mamata Banerjee) had promised to return the Singur land to the farmers. But she could not. She has cheated the people. The people of Singur did not get the Nano factory, neither did they get their land back. We hope the people give her a suitable reply," he said.

Report by our correspondent, picture by Sudip Das