West Bengal CM Adhikari vows to bring Tata Group back to the state, promises industrial growth; slams TMC, Left
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government would bring the Tata Group back to the state and
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government would bring the Tata Group back to the state and accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Left regimes of either forcibly acquiring land or merely indulging in "photo sessions" in the name of industrialisation. Addressing a press conference in Kolkata today, Adhikari vowed to revive Bengal's industrial fortunes and added that his government would attract investment opportunities and create jobs without repeating the mistakes that had triggered the Singur and Nandigram agitations. Adhikari said, "We will bring back the Tatas to Bengal," referring to the conglomerate whose small-car project at Singur in Hooghly district was shifted to Gujarat in 2008 following a prolonged land acquisition dispute. He also launched an attack on the TMC and alleged that former CM Mamata Banerjee's government spent years making claims regarding industrial revival without delivering tangible results.
He added, "We don't want to indulge in lies and organise photo sessions like the previous government did to attract industries." Bengal CM's remarks on land acquisition Commenting on the contentious issue of land acquisition, Adhikari said the BJP government was working on a policy framework but highlighted that industrial growth could not come at the cost of farmers' rights. He added, "The government is working on its land acquisition policy. We are against forcible land acquisition, like what happened in Singur and Nandigram during the erstwhile Left Front regime. At the same time, we are also against the TMC's policy of doing nothing while only holding photo sessions and spreading lies about bringing industries." The Bengal CM also mentioned that the BJP government would use a balanced approach aimed at securing both industrial development and public consent.
Also Read | West Bengal rolls out Ayushman Bharat PMJAY schemes for 1.43 cr families Tata Motors' Bengal project The Singur controversy surrounding Tata Motors' proposed small-car manufacturing plant remains a landmark moment in West Bengal's political landscape. The movement opposing the acquisition of farmland became a major rallying point for Mamata Banerjee and the TMC, helping them secure victory in the 2011 Assembly elections and bringing an end to the Left Front's 34-year tenure in power. According to media reports, in 2006, the Left Front government acquired nearly 1,000 acres in Singur for Tata Motors to build the "world's cheapest car." However, the opposition, led by Banerjee's TMC, launched a massive protest, arguing that fertile, multi-crop land should not be used for factories. A decade later, the Supreme Court ruled that the land acquired by the West Bengal government for a Tata Motors factory must be returned to farmers.
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