Left worried as Trinamool attempts to enact Singur-II

KOLKATA: The Marxists may not be unduly worried about the muscle flexing of Trinamool Congress in Rajarhat over the land issue, but they aren’t entirely worry free. There is a line of thought that due to the present turmoil at Rajarhat, it may become difficult for the housing department to acquire the rest 1,953 acres that is required to complete the planned Rajarhat township.

The housing minister Goutam Deb was given a free hand to tackle the Trinamool agitation on Thursday, but party members expressed doubts whether it would be possible to complete the planned acquisition before the assembly elections in 2011.

Trinamool has held a protest rally before the Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco) office, alleging that the agency had acquired land forcibly from farmers to establish the Rajarhat township. Trinamool will hold a second demonstration on December 21 at Rajarhat.

“Trinamool does not have any major issue which they can use against our government before next year’s assembly elections. The construction for Rajarhat had begun in 1995. Now, after 15 years the party has woken up and has started shouting against what they think is forcible land acquisition! Ironically, Trinamool’s representatives and their local leaders at Rajarhat were present in the land procurement committee set up by the Hidco for Rajarhat’s land acquisition programme,” Md Salim, a prominent CPM central committee member said.

“Aggrieved land owners had filed 18 cases against the Hidco alleging that the agency did not offer them the exact price for their land. But we have won all these legal battles and the courts have appreciated the land acquisition process and the price fixing formula of the land we had acquired,” Deb told party leaders.

Many within CPM feel that Rajarhat will not give Mamata Banerjee the same kind of political mileage as Singur or Nandigram did. “Rajarhat is essentially meant to be a complete township for the lower middle, middle and upper-middle class people of Kolkata. It’s no secret that Kolkata is bursting at the seams. If Rajarhat project is developed an estimated 10 lakh ordinary people will find their dream homes. The more time it takes to complete Rajarhat due to Trinamool’s political agenda, the longer it will take to finish these homes,” said Shyamal Chakraborty, CPM’s central committee member.

“The land acquisition process at Rajarhat is very transparent, we have not hob-nobbed with any particular industrialist. I mean none of Mamata Banerjee’s pet agitational formulae can be applied for Rajarhat. So where’s the problem,” he asked.

In fact, the CPM state secretariat has urged the housing minister to publish a document highlighting the special features of the Rajarhat township and the Hidco land acquisition process. The party will use this to counter Trinamool’s campaign.