Industry and Agriculture are two siblings: Mamata Banerjee

KOLKATA: In two days of former chief minister of Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee going back to his old slogan, “agriculture is our base, industry is our future,” chief minister Mamata Banerjee today said, "Industry and Agriculture are two siblings. They have to stay together”. The statement, echoing Bhattacharjee, is surely a shift from Banerjee’s political strategy that she has been following since long.

For last four years, Banerjee had been saying in every public meeting that Bengal is rich in agriculture and the state thrives on cottage industry. However, today she had given equal importance to both agriculture and industry that clearly shows her growing enthusiasm and inclination towards industry. The chief minister was today speaking in the programme organised to open the coal mines in Birbhum.

“Agriculture and industry are siblings. We have to work taking both with us. We must give equal importance to both,” said Banerjee in the programme. Her comments on industry came two days after Buddhadeb Bhattcharjee in a public meeting in Singur reiterated his stand on industry. He had said, “Agriculture is our base, industry is our future”.

Reacting on the Singur issue, Banerjee however added, “We protested in Singur because they killed innocent farmers in the name of industry. But now, we have developed land bank.”