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After a two-day silence, the Left parties have reacted to the Supreme Court judgement returning the Singur land to farmers, saying it was the the Land Acquisition of 1894 that was to blame for the fiasco during the Left Front government in 2006.
Both the CPI(M) and the CPI said in separate statements that the present Land Acquisition Act addresses the issue in a better way.
The Supreme Court had on Wednesday quashed the allotment of 1,000 acres of land by the former CPI(M)-led government to Tata Motors in 2006, for building a Nano car plant.
The CPI(M) Politburo said in a statement on Friday that the then Left Front government had intended to develop industry and create jobs by bringing the project to the State. “However, the acquisition process had to be undertaken under the 1894 Land Acquisition Act, which was the only legal instrument available at that time. This was an Act which did not protect the interests of the farmers adequately. On land acquisition, the CPI(M) had earlier acknowledged in its Central Committee review report of the 2011 assembly elections that ‘The administrative and political mistakes in this regard proved costly,” it said.
The party also claimed the Supreme Court upheld its position that the land should be returned to all the erstwhile owners. The party also said it will continue efforts to improve the present Land Acquisition Act further in the interests of farmers. “On the contrary, the current BJP-led Central Government sought to dilute this Act through ordinances and continues to undermine it,” the statement added.
The Central Secretariat of the CPI said the Left Front could have dealt the issue in a better way by providing reasonable compensation and alternate land. “The method adopted was not correct and put the Left in entire country in embarrassment. The credibility of the Left suffered. Trinmool Congress took advantage of the mistakes and a political agitation was launched. The whole deal costed Left Front and lost the election also,” it noted.
“The present Land Acquisition Act is better and it should be implemented in letter and spirit,” the party added.
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