As the state capitulated to Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee over the railway coach factory in Singur, the Trinamool Congress is preparing to capitalise on the land acquisition issue again.

The party plans an agitation in Rajarhat — on the lines of Singur and Nandigram protests — demanding the return of 7,000 acres of land “acquired forcibly” from farmers. The party has already floated the Rajarhat Krishi Jiban Jibika Raksha Committee for a sustained agitation.

On Tuesday, seven Trinamool Congress legislators wrote to Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi urging him to talk to the state government for the return of the land.

In Rajarhat, “7,000 acres of land has been acquired by the state government forcibly” from the farmers in three phases, said Jyotirmoy Mullick, Trinamool MLA from Gaighata and party leader in North 24-Parganas. Acquisition of another 1,200 acres has started in the fourth phase.

“We have asked the Governor to intervene,” Mullick said. “The 7,000 acres must be returned to the farmers and the process of acquisition in the fourth phase must be stopped. We appealed to him to talk to the state government which must cancel the entire acquisition process in Rajarhat and return the land in consultation with the Opposition leaders.”

The Trinamool is also planning to take legal recourse to get the land back, Mullick said. “We are collecting documents indicating that the land was forcefully taken from the farmers. They (the CPM) used the might of local police and goondas and handed some cheques to the locals. Many did not even get that.” The land acquisition issue in Rajarhat came up after the Vedic Village incident. The state government was prompted to cancel allotment of land to IT majors in the area. Later the Land and Land Reforms Department also ordered an inquiry into the acquisition process.

According to Trinamool Congress sources, the party wants to create pressure on the state government over the Rajarhat issue at a time when the state government is putting the onus of setting up a factory in Singur on Mamata Banerjee.

With the Nandigram and Singur land acquisition issue now turning cold, Trinamool is planning to highlight the Rajarhat issue before the 2011 Assembly elections.