August 24th, 2008 - 9:12 pm ICT by IANS -
Singur, Aug 24 (IANS) Protesters who Sunday gathered to launch a fresh agitation at the Tata Motors site here complained that their mobile phones were not working and accused the West Bengal government of trying to scuttle their programmed by using the cell phone jammers. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, leading the indefinite agitation, said: “I don’t know about others, but my BSNL phone given by parliament is not working here. I hope you have understood why they use the cell phone jammers.”
Many people said they had to walk more than a kilometer from the venue to access their mobile networks.
However, West Bengal Inspector General of Police (law and order) Raj Kanojia told IANS: “I don’t know about any cell phone jammers. I had been talking to my personnel posted at Singur since morning without any difficulties.”
Moreover, power supply was disrupted about five times at the agitation site.
Progressive India Congress chief Somen Mitra told the gathering: “This is a conspiracy against us. But the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) does not know that they cannot stop people’s movement like this. The message of this movement will reach out to people across West Bengal. So they use the mobile phone jammers.”
Banerjee too said: “CPI-M cadres will try to thwart our movement. We have to be careful so that we don’t fall into their trap.”
Thousands of people arrived at Singur, in Hooghly district and about 40 km from Kolkata, since early morning braving the scorching heat to observe the indefinite agitation in front of the Tata Motors small car factory along with the Krishijami Jiban Jibika Raksha Committee, backed by the state’s main opposition party Trinamool Congress.
The committee has called for the indefinite agitation at the Tata Motors factory which is set to roll out the world’s cheapest car Nano.
Their demand to the Left Front government is to return to farmers the 400 acres of farmland, out of total 997.11 acre, taken for building ancillary industries adjacent to the main plant.
Men and women, old and young poured in at the 21 agitation camps in trucks and rickshaw vans and gathered at the nearby Durgapur Expressway.
There were at least five mass organizations and 16 political parties, including Trinamool Congress, Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), Progressive Indira Congress and Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) participating in the protests.
As a result, the expressway was clogged and closed down, causing difficulties to people.
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