In Singur, agri roots & job dreams divide generations

Singur: As the morning mist settles over lush green patches of Hooghly, the rhythmic sound of tillers in Singur is punctuated by the loud, competing echoes of campaign microphones. As this historic semi-rural constituency — once at the centre of political upheaval in Bengal — heads to the polls, Singur remains a landscape defined by what is missing: promised industry and former vitality of its soil.Trinamool continues to pitch Singur as a future hub for "agro-industrial" synergy. "We have returned the land, and now we are bringing the infrastructure. Our focus is an agro-park that respects the farmer while creating modern opportunities," says TMC candidate Becharam Manna, one of CM Mamata Banerjee's lieutenants in the anti-land acquisition movement. Manna, the incumbent MLA, also highlights the handsome allocation for the park in Singur in this year's interim budget.Many old-timers are convinced that Singur still lies close to Banerjee's heart. "We get Rs 10,000 while smaller farmers get Rs 4,000. Who else will think of us," asked Berabari's Joydeb Das, a farmer whose land was "forcibly acquired" by the Left Front govt.However, for many Singur youths, "agro-industry" feels like a distant lullaby. Anirban Ghosh, a 24-year-old engineering graduate currently working at a retail store in Kolkata, says he respects his father's fight to keep the farmland but points out that the land is no longer fertile as concrete had been poured into it to construct the Tata Nano factory. "Trinamool talks about parks, and BJP talks about missed chances. Neither gives me a job here. I have to travel three hours every day to earn my bread," said Ghosh.BJP has centred its campaign on the ghost of industry, calling the 2008 exit of the Tatas a "historic blunder" that pushed Bengal into an "industrial desert". "Singur was the gateway to Bengal's future, and TMC slammed it shut," says Arati Ghosh, a BJP campaigner. The party promises a "double engine" push to bring heavy manufacturing back to the region.Local physician Udayan Das, son of former MLA Bidyut Das, says the electorate is deeply fragmented. "For the older generation, TMC represents dignity and agrarian rights. But for the post-2011 generation, dignity is tied to employment, and that's where TMC faces its toughest challenge."After coming to office, Banerjee left no stone unturned to return the land to farmers. While the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the farmers in 2016, 40% of the 997-acre site remains uncultivable due to the fly ash and concrete remnants left behind.Bajemelia's Suren Mondal, who got his land back, stands on a patch of stunted mustard crops. "Govt gives us seeds and compensation, but the soil is hard. We want industry, but only on land that can't grow food," he sighs.
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