Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee reiterated his stand that land at the Singur factory cannot be returned to the farmers. He also said the state government was preparing a new package for those farmers, who had lost their land in Singur but refused to accept the compensation.

Speaking after the Left Front meeting at the CPM headquarters at Alimuddin Street on Saturday, he shared the concern expressed by Ratan Tata over the completion of the Singur project but said the Tatas should bear with his government for some time.

On Friday, Tata Motors chief Ratan Tata had expressed his concern over the Singur project and hinted that the Tatas would not hesitate to quit Singur if the violence at the Nano factory site continued.

Taking stock of the situation, the ruling Left Front held an emergency meeting on Saturday evening to review the Singur crisis. After the meet, Bhattacharjee told mediapersons that a majority of the state’s population wanted the Tatas to bring out their small car from Singur.

Ruling out the possibility to return the 400 acres of land to the farmers as demanded by the Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee, he said: “We are not in a position to return the land. Nearly 85 per cent work of the car factory has been completed. At this stage, it is impossible to take any land from the factory.” Bhattacharjee also claimed that the project will be completed in time and the small car will roll out from the factory in scheduled time.

He also said the state government was working out a comprehensive package for those who had lost their land. “We have chalked out several rehabilitation packages for the farmers as a part of our moral responsibility. We have also prepared a list of those farmers, who have not accepted the compensation and prepared several packages for them,” the chief minister said. He, however, refused to divulge the schemes. “I will discuss the packages with the Opposition party first and then inform you,” Bhattacharjee said.

When asked whether there was any possibility of holding tripartite talks among the state government, the Tatas and the Trinamool Congress, Bhattacharjee said, “Though the Tatas want to talk to the Opposition party, no such meeting has been scheduled as yet.”

He also referred to chief ministers of a few states who had invited the Tatas to shift their small car factory to their states on Friday. “There is no question of shifting the factory from Singur. We have no objection if the Tatas set up their other projects in different states but the small car factory will not be shifted to anywhere, “ asserted the chief minister.

The chief minister also said he wanted the Opposition Trinamool Congress to hold another round of talks with his government over the Singur issue. “The first round of talks between the government and the Opposition was extremely cordial. They had demanded that the land should be returned and we explained our position. We have also given them the necessary documents to justify our claim that it was impossible for us to return the land,” said the chief minister.