The Trinamool Congress,having got a green signal from party chief Mamata Banerjee,is now planning to start an agitation in Rajarhat against acquisition of farmland on the lines of Singur and Nandigram. The party is in the process of forming a Save Farmland Committee in Rajarhat and surrounding areas on the outskirts of Kolkata where land was acquired to develop an IT hub and other projects,said party leaders. According to sources,the party will even urge farmers to forcibly reclaim their land. Incidentally,Kolkata-based realty major Ambuja Realty said on Wednesday that it planned to set up a five-star hotel in Rajarhat. Ambuja Realty would set up the hotel under the Swiss brand called Swissotel Hotels & Resorts with an investment of Rs 100 crore,and it is expected to be completed by December 2009. However,the Trinamool is planning ahead to attack the state government on legal grounds over leasing of land to Vedic Village and the IT hub. We are holding a meeting this Saturday. On the lines of Singur and Nandigram,we will form committees after talking with the local farmers who are the victims, said Purnendu Bose,the state head of the Trinamool INTUC and chief of Krishi Jami Jiban O Jibika Banchao Committee. There are many instances in Rajarhat and surrounding areas,where the state government deliberately misused land acquisition law and other rules. The party is also gathering evidences of forcible land grabbing,he added. Senior leaders said the Jami Banchao Committees will be formed in areas where land is taken for Vedic Village and the IT hub. Mamata has entrusted the job of planning and initiating the agitation to Bose,MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and party MLA Jyotipriyo Mullick. Bose has been associated with agitations in Singur and Nandigram, said Mullick. Mullick said the party has also asked the victims,local farmers to reclaim the land of the Vedic Village and initiate farming there. We will provide all support. The party,however,has kept away its Bhangar MLA Arabul Islam,whose name has come up in the Vedic Village land scam,from the agitation programme. On Tuesday,the party expelled three senior leaders of North 24 Parganas district for anti-party activities and entering into land deals along with CPM. The party also launched an investigation as to whether there are others who have engaged themselves in land deals in the area,along with local CPM leaders. It is very clear. You may have your personal business. But Trinamool will not tolerate any of the leaders entering into illegal land deals by joining hands with the CPM, added Mullick.
