Speaking to mediapersons at her Kalighat residence, a day after Basu had said that it was impossible for the Left Front government in the state to return the 400 acres of land to the framers, Banerjee said: “The Tatas can easily set up their factory on the 600 acres because these days you don’t need 1,000 acres of land for a car-manufacturing factory.”
Reiterating that her party is not against the industry as advocated by the CPM, she said, “The people have made it amply clear who are for development and who are not.”
Banerjee further said, “We are going through a food crisis, and one cannot ignore agriculture. At the same time industry is also vital for us. We give priority to both — agriculture and industry. The only thing we want is that land should not be acquired forcibly and fertile land should be kept away from the land acquisition altogether.”
Earlier in the day, she held a meeting with the the newly-elected members of South 24 Parganas Zilla Parishad, which Trinamool wrested from CPM with the help of SUCI during the recent panchayat polls.
During the meeting, the party elected C M Jatua, a former IPS officer, as the vice-chairman of the South 24 Parganas Zilla Parishad.
She said that her party would take up the issue of alleged EVM manipulation during panchayat polls with the Election Commission. “Questions are being raised on EVMs as they are being manipulated by the ruling party. I will take up the issue with other political parties in Delhi,” she said.