Chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s tweet to mark the third anniversary of handing over parchas to Singur farmers triggered angry protests in the Opposition ranks. Rubbishing her contention, Congress, CPI-M and BJP leaders made a scathing attack on her. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said that her government is committed to the welfare of farmers as well as to promote industry in the state. Three years ago, Miss Banerjee had handed over parchas (ownership documents) to the farmers of Singur for their land which was allegedly forcibly acquired by the previous Left Front government for the Tata factory and described it as a “historic day”.

“Today marks the third anniversary of the historic day when our Govt of #Bangla handed over to farmers the parchas of land forcibly acquired in Singur,” Ms Banerjee wrote in her Twitter handle this morning. “We reiterate our commitment to the welfare of farmers, alongside promoting industry. My humble pronam to Maa, Mati, Manush,” she added. In 2016, the Trinamul Congress- led state government had handed over land documents to 9,117 farmers and cheques to 806 people. Miss Banerjee was instrumental in leading a mass agitation against the land acquisition for the Tata factory that was supposed to come up at Singur in 2006.

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The agitation eventually led to the exit of the proposed small car factory, apart from being a major factor in the Trinamul Congress’s coming to power in 2011. Miss Banerjee’s statement comes a day after several activists of the Left Front organisations were injured following a clash with police during their Nabanna march with a demand to generate employment for jobless youths.

“Chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s tweet today reiterating her commitment to farmers’ welfare on the third anniversary of giving parchas to tillers of Singur alongside promoting industry is a farcical take on the existing state of affairs,” leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, Abdul Mannan, said. The farmers of Singur cannot till their plots properly after the small car factory closed down leaving the fields in a state unfit for agriculture which makes the parchas useless documents, Mr Mannan pointed out.

As for the chief minister’s contention of promoting the making of incense sticks and frying fritters and making a fortune from the trade, it is a clear indication of her seriousness about promoting industry in the state, the leader of the Opposition said. Instead of making untrue announcements, it is time she shared with the people the actual state of investment made in the state in her regime, he added. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh slammed the chief minister for giving only “bluff” to the people of Singur who overwhelmingly voted for the Trinamul Congress.

“But Mamata Banerjee has failed to set up industries in Singur as promised and the land was not made fit for cultivation. She has only given the land losers some land documents and made no effort to make land cultivable. She did not make any sincere effort to set up industries there,” Ghosh said.