Banerjee said: “I have no confrontation with the Tatas and am open to talks.” The Trinamool chief, however, clarified that the proposal for talks, if any, had to come from the other side. “We do not want to send them a message. If they want a dialogue, we shall be courteous and respond,” the leader said. Tata Motors was quick to reply. “We are not averse to talking to anyone,” a spokesperson said.

Left Front Chairman Biman Bose welcomed Banerjee’s decision. “We have said for sometime that all disputes should be resolved through dialogues,” Bose said. “She should also talk to the state government.”

Banerjee made it clear she would not budge from her stand — the government should return land to those who were unwilling to move out of Singur. “I still insist the Tatas should restrict their factory to the 600 acres that farmers have given up willingly. They can look for the remaining 400 acres for ancillary units elsewhere,” Banerjee said.

Bose, however, said it would be difficult to find 400 acres of land in another area. “Even so, we can sit with maps across the table and settle the matter,” he said.

Banerjee also urged the Tatas to take up the matter with the state government as the government was “refusing” to see sense on its own.

The Trinamool chief reiterated that her party was not against industries in the state but would go ahead with its agitation on August 24, when Trinamool supporters plan to gherao the project site.

She warned the CPM against organising any retaliatory demonstration at the venue.

“We will gherao the factory in a peaceful and democratic way,” Banerjee said.

She also accused the CPM of trying to thwart the movement in Singur by unleashing terror in Nandigram — which has seen sporadic violence in the last one month. She accused the CPM of removing the Central Reserve Police Force from Nandigram and Khejuri, a ploy to send in the police to torture people, she said.

“This is state-sponsored terrorism. Why did the state government not remove Debashish Chakrabarty, the officer-in-charge of the Nandigram police station who had collaborated with criminals?” Banerjee asked.

She alleged the CPM was not allowing her party to provide relief to victims of Nandigram violence. “They are preventing gram panchayats, panchayat samitis and zilla parishads from carrying out their duties,” she said. Banerjee also said Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had lost his “political equilibrium”.

Earlier in the day, Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty said Banerjee’s agitation against the project was a Fascist movement. “In a democracy, one must follow the elected government. It is a win-win situation for the Left Front either way, irrespective of the factory coming up or not,” he said.

In 2006, the government had acquired 997 acres from nearly 12,000 farmers for the project. According to its figures, owners of around 300 acres were yet to accept compensation. Among them, all were not disgruntled farmers.