Singur: “Why do you want to go there now?” auto-rickshaw driver Abhijit Ram asks.“Is there anything left of the factory? Everything has been razed to the ground. Two decades ago, Singur had found a place on the national map, buoyed by the promise of the Rs 1 lakh Nano car. Now that’s gone. There is no trace of Tata in Singur. There is no employment either,” Ram says.Singur was the political turning point of Bengal. The movement in opposition to the factory there led to the ushering in of the Trinamool Congress government in 2011.Now, the area is home to neither industry nor an agricultural revival.Today, after 15 years under the governance of Trinamul Congress, how is the politically significant arena doing?The story so farSingur’s story traces back to the 2006 Bengal assembly election, when the Left Front’s campaign slogan, “Krishi aamader bhitti, shilpo aamader bhobishyot (agriculture is our foundation, industry is our future),” struck a chord with voters across the state, securing their return to power.Just three days after the formation of the seventh Left Front government, then Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya announced plans to set up a motor car manufacturing plant in Singur. Singur is located in Hooghly district, 33 kilometres west of Kolkata. The project was to be undertaken by Tata Motors.Soon after, Tata revealed that the car to be produced at the Singur plant would be called the Tata Nano, priced at around Rs 1 lakh. At the time, no other four-wheeler in the market came close to that price point. The announcement sparked excitement.The state government initiated the process of land acquisition for the small car project. A decision was taken to acquire 997.10 acres of land across the gram panchayat areas of Gopalnagar, Beraberi, and Kamarkundu in Singur block. The move was driven by the expectation that a large industrial enterprise like Tata would establish a manufacturing unit in Singur, bringing industrial development and economic opportunities to the region.“We did not hesitate when we learned that a well-reputed industrial house like Tata Motors would set up a factory on our land. We decided to hand over our land to the government without a second thought. Almost everyone in the village shared the same opinion,” says one Asit Das, a villager of Rupnarayanpur Daspara in Gopalnagar gram panchayat.Farmer Asit Das from Rupnarayanpur. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.“The income we earned from agriculture each year was limited. In comparison, the lump sum compensation we received after land acquisition, if deposited in a bank, promised much higher returns through interest. Moreover, there was an assurance that one member from each affected family would be offered employment in the Tata Nano project. No one wanted to miss such an opportunity. We handed over our land to the land department of the West Bengal government and accepted the compensation cheque,” he says.On September 25, 2006, when the distribution of compensation cheques began at the Singur block office, Mamata Banerjee, leader of the Trinamool Congress, staged a blockade at the block office. Some local residents say now that not a single villager from Singur was present with her that day.“A heated exchange followed between Mamata Banerjee and the administration. We were taken aback,” Das says.Speaking to The Wire, residents of Rupnarayanpur village – among them Tapas De, Harek Adak, and others who had given up their land for the Nano factory – recount a period of confusion and then anguish.“The story of Singur has been one of unending distress,” says De. “TMC began warning farmers that once their land was gone, they would be left destitute. They urged people to resist what they described as an unjust move by the government.”A widespread campaign had sought to establish back then that the government was acquiring vast stretches of fertile multi-crop land. However, according to several locals, only a small portion of Singur’s land was actually multi-crop. They also point out that the then state government had offered compensation significantly higher than the prevailing market rate – Rs 14, 10, and 8 lakh per acre, depending on the nature of the land. Around 85% of farmers had accepted the compensation cheques.Joydeb Deb, a Singur farmer. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.Despite this, the combined opposition of the TMC and other opposition forces, including the BJP, began to resist the project. Protests under the banner of the Jomi Uchhed Protirodh Committee (Land Eviction Resistance Committee) became a daily occurrence in Singur, leading to increasing unrest and disorder in the area. “Amid this tense and volatile atmosphere, construction work for the Tata Motors Tata Nano factory began on January 21, 2007,” recalls Jaydeb De, a senior resident of Singur.Abhijit Das. He was an electrician for the Nano Motor car project. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.Abhijit Das, a resident of Rupnarayanpur who had undergone training in the electrical department for the Tata Motors project, says that he remembers the scale and planning behind the venture. He states that around 500 acres of land were required for the Tata Nano manufacturing unit itself. An additional 400 acres had been earmarked for 24 ancillary vendor units, highlighting the project’s potential to generate a wide network of industrial activities. “Beyond this, specific provisions had been made for environmental safeguards, residential quarters for workers, and playgrounds. I think the project had promised not just employment, but the foundation of a structured and sustainable industrial community in Singur. But that is lost now,” he says.Following the 2008 panchayat elections, a fresh wave of agitation began in Singur. From the first week of September, under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, a blockade of the Durgapur Expressway was launched in protest against the Tata Motors factory. The blockade continued for 21 days, intensifying tensions in the region.“The movement drew support from a broad spectrum of political forces. Rajnath Singh, the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, joined the agitation alongside Mamata Banerjee. Various anti-Left groups, including ultra-Left factions and SUCI, came together to form what many described as a ‘rainbow alliance’ against the Tata project in Singur,” says Soumitra Chatterjee, a secretariat member of the CPI(M) Hooghly district committee.Several residents say that while the Left Front government had once earned the trust of poor farmers through land reforms, its workers failed to effectively communicate that the same government would not arbitrarily dispossess them. This gap, they say, contributed to the growing unrest the,As the situation escalated, it reached a breaking point. On October 3, 2008, Ratan Tata, then chairman of Tata Group, announced that the company would withdraw the Tata Nano factory from Singur. His words from that day still echo in the memories of many residents. “Even if someone had held a gun to my head, I would not stop,” he had said, before adding, “But Mamata Banerjee has pulled the trigger.”Following the announcement, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, invited Tata Motors to establish the plant in the state. Tata Motors subsequently built a new factory in Sanand, Gujarat.It is not lost on a significant section of residents now how the BJP had then backed the TMC’s political efforts. Many locals interpret these developments as part of a broader political design, and are bemused at the fact that BJP and TMC are now so opposed to each other.A landscape of lost promise and lingering questionsIgnoring the initial remarks of local auto-rickshaw driver Abhijit Ram, this reporter proceeded towards the site of the former vehicle factory in Singur. What remains today is a landscape stripped of any visible trace of the once-ambitious project.The land that was supposed to be the Tata Nano factory in Singur. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.The long boundary wall that once enclosed the industrial site now lies in ruins. The abandoned power station stands silent and lifeless, while vast open fields stretch out, dry and desolate. Concrete surfaces that were once part of planned industrial infrastructure now lie exposed, overtaken by wild vegetation. The entire area carries an atmosphere of neglect and abandonment.Near the Singur Bheri area, a park developed by the TMC-led state government, named Ashram Dhar, now stands. Local residents allege that around Rs 5 crore was shown as expenditure for the project, while the actual cost, they claim, was significantly lower. The whereabouts of the remaining funds, they say, remain unknown.To the left, the site of the Tata Nano factory in Singur. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.At the site, this reporter meets local TMC leader Jiban Mondal. When asked about the future of Singur, he remarks in a subdued tone that the path ahead remains uncertain. “We do not know what Didi will decide. It would have been better if industry had come here. Everything seems to have come to nothing,” he says.The silence of the abandoned land, coupled with unanswered questions from locals and leaders alike, leaves Singur today as a stark reminder of an unfinished industrial dream.The fence of the Tata Nano factory in Singur. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.After coming to power, the TMC-led government announced that all acquired land in Singur would be returned to farmers. It also promised financial assistance to those who had participated in the movement – Rs 2,000 per month along with 16 kg of rice per family. Even today, around 2,000 people continue to receive this support from the state government.Two residents of Rupnarayanpur, Rajkumar Pal and Giuram Pal, who had initially resisted giving up their land and refused to accept compensation, now express regret. “It feels like we made the wrong decision back then,” Rajkumar says. “We eventually had to take the cheques, but their value had diminished significantly. If the factory had come up, at least one member of each family would have had a job. That opportunity is now lost for the people of Singur.”Dipali Mondal, a housewife from Rupnarayanpur, who worked in garment production at the Singur Nano factory along with 40 women. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.Abhijit Das recalls that many youth like him had found work connected to the project, only to lose it later. Dipali Mondal, a homemaker from the village, says how she once led a group of 40 women who had begun making garments for Nano factory workers. “Today, none of us are formally unemployed,” she says.A view of the site of the Tata Nano factory in Singur. Photo: Madhu Sudan Chatterjee.The locals point out that the project had sparked broader economic activity in the region. Three nationalised banks had set up operations, while construction of a shopping complex and even a three-star hotel had begun. Numerous small businesses had emerged in anticipation of the industrial boom. Today, most residents speak of these developments as part of lost history.Several residents also noted a shift in the region’s political landscape. They claim that before the Singur movement, the BJP had little presence in the area. However, in the aftermath, the BJP gradually gained ground, with many former Krishi Jomi Banchao Committee participants now aligning with the BJP.Locals point out that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Singur for a rally a few months ago, he did not speak about industrial development in Singur. Singur goes to polls on April 29. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has not visited Singur even once.“For us, their actions say everything,” Das remarks. “It is clear how both ruling parties view Singur today.”