NDA leaders to seek Kalam's intervention

TOI, 28 December

NEW DELHI: Stepping up its campaign in support of its ally Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, NDA on Wednesday decided to seek Presidential intervention on the Singur row, warning that CPM and Congress would be held "responsible" if anything unfortunate happened to her.

Banerjee's hunger strike has entered the 24th day.

A delegation of NDA leaders is likely to meet President Kalam on Thursday and ask for his intervention in the Singur standoff.

The Opposition combine, which met at NDA chairman and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee's residence, expressed solidarity with Banerjee, calling her hunger strike a "death-defying agitation to safeguard the land and livelihood of farmers".

"Farmers in the country will never forgive the anti-people governments in West Bengal and at the Centre, if anything were to happen to Banerjee," NDA said in a resolution after the meeting.

Ahead of the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, the BJP-led Opposition appeared to be using the Singur issue to reach out to farmers and and bring out the "anti-people" stand that Congress and UPA's Left constituents are taking on the issue.

The NDA leaders came up with a three-point charter of demands, including renegotiation with Tata to give up multi-crop land in Singur, to resolve the row.

"Those farmers and cultivators, who have not given consent or not taken the cheques offered by the state government against their land, must be given back their land with immediate effect," NDA said.

It also demanded that PM speak "forthrightly" with cm Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, ask him to "get off the high horse and recognise the explosive nature of the situation".