Kolkata:
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday expressed commitment to the welfare of peasants and also to promote industry in the state, while celebrating the third anniversary of distribution of parchas (documents) to farmers of Singur, whose land was forcibly acquired by the Left Front government for Tata’s Nano factory,.
The Trinamool Congress supremo, on this day in 2016, had handed over land parchas to 9,117 farmers and cheques to 806 people of Singur and had described the occasion as a “historic day”.
“We reiterate our commitment to the welfare of farmers, alongside promoting industry. My humble pronam to Maa, Mati, Manush,” she added.
“Ma, Mati, Manush” (mother, motherland and people) was a political slogan coined by Banerjee before 2009 general election. It eventually became the signature slogan of Banerjee and her party.
The TMC chief had steered the massive agitation against the land acquisition for Tata’s Nano car factory in Singur in 2006.
Incidentally, on Friday around 60 activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) were wounded after they clashed with police in course of their march towards the state secretariat demanding employment for the youth of the state.
The activists had taken out a rally on Thursday from Singur, the venue of the abandoned Tata small car plant, demanding jobs for the youth of the state.
Singur had become the hotbed of West Bengal politics in 2008 after the Trinamool Congress of Mamata Banerjee led an agitation against the erstwhile Left Front government over acquisition of farm land for the car factory.
The TMC agitation eventually led to the exit of the proposed small car factory and catapulted Banerjee to power in 2011.
;
