Narendra Modi reaches out to Mamata, hopes of cooperation if he wins
Kolkata: BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has expressed the hope that if he comes to power at the centre, he would get cooperation of Mamata Banerjee govt in creating a conducive atmosphere for industrialization in West Bengal including resolving the Singur problem.
"I hope I will get all sorts of cooperation from West Bengal chief minister in solving the Singur tangle. Not only Singur, I hope I will get cooperation from the state government in creating a conducive atmosphere for industrialization in the state. Hope Trinamool Congress will not indulge in vote bank politics on the question of development of the state", he told Bengali daily 'Anandabazar Patrika'.
On the Nano project, he said, "I gave land to the Tatas when they were in trouble. But I had some guilty feeling towards West Bengal because it was not my intention to deprive it (of the project).
"Now when I am thinking of the development of the entire country coming out of Gujarat, I have a thought on Singur also," he said.
The Tatas had shifted their Nano small car project to Gujarat in 2008 in the face of agitation by Trinamool Congress against acquisition of farmland in Singur by the then Left Front government.
Terming the criticism against each other by BJP and TMC as "natural" during election campaign, Modi said, "BJP and TMC are two different parties. Ideologically, they are different. It is only natural that they will criticize each other during the election time. But if I come to power I will not be revengeful against any state."
Modi said, "Whatever Mamata Banerjee says about me, I will not make any personal comment against her. On the other hand, I will give a guarantee that the state will not be deprived in any way as far as far as development is concerned. Whatever be the political differences (between us), Centre-state dispute should not be there".
