No apology for Singur, but for Nandigram, yes: Buddhadeb

Kolkata, May 11 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Monday declined to apologise for auto major Tata Motors shifting the Nano plant from Singur, but said he felt remorse over the police firing in Nandigram two years back that left 14 people dead.

'Why should I seek apology for the Singur issue? The state government has no responsibility behind the decision of Tata Motors to pull out from Singur.

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It happened due to the directionless agitation by the opposition Trinamool Congress,' Bhattacharjee said at a meet-the-press programme organised by the Kolkata Press Club here.

'If I do something wrong I make it a point to apologise for it. But we were right on the Singur issue. So there's no question of seeking apology from anyone.

'But I condemn the police firing in Nandigram. It's absolutely undesirable. If I knew such a situation could happen, I would never have sent the police force to Nandigram. Our government had earlier declared that land would not be acquired there.'

While terming the Singur episode as an 'exception', Bhattacharjee said many investments were coming into the state and in 2008 the investment figure was around Rs.4,200 crore in sectors like steel, cement, food processing and IT.

'Our main opposition in the state, Trinamool Congress, has no plans for development. It's our misfortune that our opposition is like that. They don't allow the government to work towards development,' he said. He also said that 'there is no opposition party like the Trinamool in the entire country'.