Kolkata:
A bill seeking to empower the West Bengal government to return land in Singur to farmers was on Tuesday passed by the Assembly amidst a walkout by members of the Opposition Left parties.
The Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill, 2011, was passed by voice vote along with some amendments brought by the government.
When the Bill was put to vote by Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay, the Left MLAs, who cited legal loopholes in the legislation, walked out of the House.
Speaking on the Bill, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said it had been brought to undo the injustice meted out to the farmers whose land was forcefully acquired in 2006 for setting up Tata Motor's Nano car manufacturing unit.
Stating that the Left members could raise the issue of technicalities in the Bill, she charged that they could not carry out the exercise of returning the land during their tenure. Banerjee also said she wanted to know from the Left members why they were losing patience so soon.
Mishra, belonging to CPI(M), raised the point of order saying Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, during her speech in the debate, did not reply to the legal issues raised by him in relation to the Bill.
Meanwhile, the Tatas said they were studying the Singur Bill passed by the West Bengal Assembly. "We are studying the Singur Bill which was passed today," a spokesman of the Tata Group said.
Challenging Ms Banerjee's stand, the company said - "Tata Motors wants to clarify that the operations of setting up and commissioning of the plant was conducted under very difficult conditions, amidst violence, disruption of activities, damage to property, threats to personnel. ... therefore, Tata Motors did not find the situation congenial to continue its operations and, there being no guarantee of a safe and peaceful environment, had to reluctantly close operations on October 3, 2008."
(Read the full statement)