Kolkata, Sep 22 (Inditop.com) High drama prevailed at the annual general meeting of the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BNCCI) Tuesday, when union Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy left the meeting mid-way and refused to acknowledge the West Bengal ministers sitting on the dais.
Emerging out of the meeting, state Commerce and Industries Minister Nirupam Sen told reporters: “This type of incident is unexpected. Earlier also, we have shared dais with many central ministers, but we have never faced any such situation.”
Roy, a close aide of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, had been at the forefront of the popular movements in Singur and Nandigram against the state government’s industrialisation drive.
State’s Urban Development Minister Ashoke Bhattacharya said: “This is no courtesy. If our presence bothered him, he should have told us and we would not have come.”
However, BNCCI officials said Roy was in a hurry and had to attend an emergency meeting.
Singur turned into a battleground in May 2006 after the Left Front-ruled state government announced auto major Tata Motors’ Nano small car project there.
The principal opposition party of the state, Trinamool Congress, led protesters to demand return of 400 acres – of the 997.11 acres acquired – to farmers. Finally, Tata Motors in October 2008 moved out the plant for the world’s least expensive car to Gujarat.
Apart from Singur, the party also forced the shifting of a chemical hub project from Nandigram to Nayachar in East Midnapore district.
Criticising Trinamool in his speech at the AGM without naming the party, Sen said: “Politics is coming in the way when industry is spreading to villages. Whoever comes to power has to pursue industrialisation in the state.”
“There are debates over land in the state. There are always positive aspects to a debate and we should learn from them. People have also supported our moves towards industrialisation,” he said.
Pointing out that industrialisation was inevitable, Sen said: “Industrialisation does not depend on political win or defeat. If a political party goes out of power or faces a defeat in the election for pursuing industrialisation, it does not mean that the state does not need it.”
