Mamata Banerjee with BJP president Rajnath Singh at Esplanade. Picture by Pabitra Das

Calcutta/New Delhi, Dec. 4: Mamata Banerjee today turned down the chief minister’s offer to discuss land acquisition for the Tata project.

“There is no question of a dialogue with the government until and unless the process of land acquisition is stopped in Singur,” the Trinamul Congress chief said, sitting next to the BJP president, Rajnath Singh.

Refused entry to Singur, Singh rushed back to Calcutta and joined Mamata’s sit-in at Esplanade.

Mamata ridiculed the government’s compensation package for landlosers. “Can anyone compensate the loss of life and livelihood of a person? If somebody takes my mother’s life, can it be compensated by money?”

At a Citu rally on the Brigade Parade Grounds yesterday, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had said he was ready for talks with an open mind. He again offered to discuss the rehabilitation package with the Opposition today.

Asked to react to the chief minister’s renewed offer, Mamata flared up: “I hate Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who has turned policemen into his cadre to unleash terror on women and children. I want him to step down and get out of Bengal.”

Singur surfaced in Parl-iament today with BJP members disrupting proceedings in both Houses.

Till yesterday, Rajnath had no plans to venture into Singur. The change of plan was as much an attempt to establish his pro-farmer image as a bid to woo Mamata back to the NDA fold.

Officially, Trinamul is still part of the BJP-led alliance but she has had a brief dalliance with the Congress since the September bypolls.

By sharing the dais with Rajnath and other BJP leaders, Mamata, however, appeared to have again distanced herself from the Congress.

State Congress working president Pradip Bhattacharya said: “Our relations were getting stronger, but Rajnath Singh’s presence at today’s programme is a setback. We cannot share a platform where the BJP is present.”

So, does the BJP feel Mamata is in its camp after Rajnath’s coup? “That’s a million-dollar question,” said V.K. Malhotra, the BJP’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha.

Mamata today offered support to tomorrow’s SUCI-sponsored bandh, though a section of her own party was opposed to it. “Our workers will not actively participate in the bandh, we’ll give moral support,” she clarified.

“Didi has given a handle to a Left party having little support in the state,” said a south Calcutta MLA.

Some were also not happy with her cosying up to the BJP. “We were trying to firm up relations with the Congress,” said another MLA.