The West Bengal government yesterday tabled legislation in the state assembly as part of its efforts to return the portion of the land acquired by the Left Front government from “unwilling owners” for setting up the Tata Motors small car factory in Singur which was later abandoned by the Tata Motors and which led shift the plant to Sanand in Gujarat due to peasant protests. Commerce and industries minister Partha Chatterjee introduced The ‘Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill, 2011’ in the legislature. The bill mainly seeks to scrap the 997.17-acre land lease with Tata Motors, enabling the government to take back the land to fulfill the Trinamool Congress’s poll promise to return 400 acres to the farmers who were unwilling to sell their land. The major incident which gave strength to Trinamool Congress to unseat the 34-year-old Left Front government in the recent assembly elections, and take over power in alliance with the Congress was its role in the Singur protests.

Mamata Government tables Singur bill

Report by Reauben