“The government deployed armed forces that created panic among the farmers. The boundary wall of the Nano project site was erected when Section 144 was clamped,” he said on Monday. “From the very beginning, there was an air of arrogance on the part of the state government. After starting off on the wrong foot, how could the government instill confidence among locals?” Subrata added.

At a public function on Sunday, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said, “Industry cannot come up in air, it has to be set up on land.” The observation was contradictory to the stand taken on Singur issue by WBPCC chief Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi and the former mayor. Dasmunsi had earlier demanded that 300 acres of the land should be returned to unwilling farmers in Singur.

“If the state government is ready to return 70 acres from the project area to the farmers, why can’t they return 300 acres? We still believe that the plant could have functioned properly without having the ancillary units in close proximity. These units could have been set up on the land opposite the plant site,” said the former mayor.