Reacting to the Calcutta High Court order on Singur, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the farmers whose plots were forcibly taken away from them for the Tata Motors’ small car project “will win the battle in the end”.
“The law will take its own course,” Ms. Banerjee told journalists in the Assembly. The legislation sought, among other things, land being returned to the “unwilling farmers” at Singur. “The State government is committed to returning land to the unwilling farmers. We had supported the farmers, continue to support them and will be by their side in the future,” she said.
Ms. Banerjee pointed out that her government was providing Rs. 1,000 a month to the unwilling farmers and agricultural labourers as compensation until the legal dispute over the land is settled.
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Later during the day, Ms. Banerjee posted on her Facebook page she would continue to fight for the cause of farmers.
“Throughout my life, I have struggled for the cause of farmers, the working class, the poor and the under-privileged. Our commitment to be with them will remain, whether I am in power or not. I will continue to fight for the cause,” she said.
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Ms. Banerjee, who had described the State government’s inability to return land to unwilling farmers in Singur as her “only disappointment” after completing one year in office last month, said in the post: “Finally, the people’s choice in democracy will prevail”.