PM Modi Returns to Singur Today to Revive Memories of Tata Nano Exit
PM Modi to address rally in Singur today, recalling Tata Nano project's 2008 exit from West Bengal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a major public rally at Singur in West Bengal’s Hooghly district on Sunday, a location deeply symbolic in the state’s industrial and political history. The rally is expected to revive memories of Tata Motors’ controversial exit of the Nano small car project from Singur in 2008, an episode that continues to shape political discourse in Bengal.
The Nano project was withdrawn following a prolonged and often violent agitation led by the Trinamool Congress, then in opposition, under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee. The movement opposed land acquisition for the project and eventually forced Tata Motors to abandon Singur, shifting the Nano manufacturing unit to Sanand in Gujarat, where Narendra Modi was Chief Minister at the time.
The emotional announcement by late industrialist Ratan Tata on October 3, 2008, still resonates in public memory. “I said that I will not pull out from Singur even if a gun is put on my head. But Miss Banerjee just pulled the trigger,” Tata had said while announcing the exit, marking a turning point for industrial investment in West Bengal.
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With Assembly elections scheduled later this year, the BJP is positioning the Singur rally as a reminder of what it calls a lost opportunity for Bengal’s industrial growth. BJP leaders have intensified campaigning around the event, asserting that the Nano exit damaged investor confidence not only in Singur but across the state.
Union Minister of State and former West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar stated that the party aims to restore Bengal’s image as an investment-friendly destination. He said that if the BJP comes to power, efforts would be made to bring the Tata Group back to Singur, signalling renewed industrial development across the state.
Ahead of the rally, Prime Minister Modi will also virtually inaugurate several central government projects in West Bengal, primarily related to Indian Railways. His visit follows an earlier aborted trip to Taherpur in December due to dense fog, during which he addressed the public via audio link and promised to return—an assurance now fulfilled amid rising political stakes.
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