Behrampore/Singur, Dec. 2: Pranab Mukherjee slammed protests against land acquisition on a day Mamata Banerjee sought an alliance with the Congress and showcased one of its leaders on her platform.

“Let’s begin with the Balagarh bypoll. I request the Congress to field a consensus candidate to wrest the seat from the CPM,” Mamata told a rally in Singur, with state Congress general secretary Jayanta Bhattacharya by her side.

Opening a fair in Behrampore, Murshidabad, the foreign minister said: “In Bengal, opposition to land acquisition has reached such a stage that it has become unbearable. National Highway 34 cannot be expanded because of opposition from political parties.”

Owners shouldn’t have problems selling their land for “a fair compensation”, he added.

Mamata said she will take the legal route to demolish the Tata Motors boundary wall in Singur, where land acquisition protests had first begun.

The Assembly bypoll in Balagarh, in Hooghly like Singur, is scheduled for December 29.