Enthusiasm is soaring in Singur, West Bengal, the former site of Tata Motors’ Nano project, as the Chief Minister is expected to deliver a message at a rally there today. The anticipation is fueled by two main factors. Firstly, the Chief Minister is set to depart for New Delhi right after the Singur rally to seek consensus among opposition parties regarding the ongoing Special Intensive Revision in various states, including West Bengal.
Trinamool Congress workers are eager to hear if the Chief Minister will address this political matter before her departure. Secondly, the rally in Singur is close to where Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at a public event on January 18. Despite expectations that the Prime Minister would discuss Tata Motors’ exit from Singur in 2008 and potential future investments, he did not touch upon the topic during his speech.
This has heightened curiosity about whether the Chief Minister will outline plans for significant investments in Singur during her address later in the day. The Nano project’s relocation from Singur occurred following protests by the Trinamool Congress, led by Mamata Banerjee, against land acquisition for the project.
Notably, after the project’s exit from Singur was announced by Ratan Tata in Kolkata on October 3, 2008, the Nano project was relocated to Sanand in Gujarat during Narendra Modi’s tenure as Chief Minister. Ratan Tata emotionally expressed his disappointment at the turn of events during the announcement.
Controversy has emerged over the decision of Kolkata Mayor and West Bengal Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Minister, Firhad Hakim, to send water-sprinklers from Kolkata to Singur to dampen the rally ground before the Chief Minister’s event. Reports indicate that five water-sprinklers have been dispatched from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation for this purpose.
