CPM chased out Tatas, alleges Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the CPM, not her, chased Tata Motors out of the state. She claimed the CPM was in power back then. Trinamool Congress (TMC) came to power in 2011.

Tata Motors had to face anti-lang acquisition agitations in Singur and Nandigram before they moved the Nano car manufacturing plant to Gujarat. "Some people are talking rubbish these days, that I had chased away the Tatas and it's the Tatas who are now giving jobs here. I did not chase the Tatas away. It is the CPM that has chased them away," said Banerjee.

She was speaking in Siliguri. The CM asked all industrialists to create more jobs in Bengal and assured them there will be no discrimination against any entrepreneur. "We want everybody to invest in Bengal," reported NDTV.

"I don't want to make political statements here, but it was you people who tried to forcefully acquire land. We returned the land. There is no dearth of land, so why acquire land forcefully?" she added. She further said TMC also has done many projects but did not acquire land forcefully.

The Supreme Court in 2016 directed the West Bengal government to return the 1,000 acres of land to its owners after terming the acquisition illegal and void. The land was acquired in 2006 by the then Left Front government for the Tata Motors Ltd plant to build Nano cars. In 2011, Banerjee's government passed a law to take back the land from Tata Motors.

Speaking about creating more jobs in the state, she said a coach factory is coming up and the Deocha-Pachami coal industry is one of the biggest. She also spoke about the Tajpur Port and Hashimara civil aerodrome.