Singur drove Nano away, now it wants to drive it

They want to ride the Nano because they want to show to their pro-farming leaders what they have missed.

Congress worker Ranjit Chatterjee was in a hurry on Thursday. He was not in a mood to miss even a second to apply for the Nano. He went to the State Bank of India branch here early in the morning to be the first to procure the application form.

He reached even before the bank had opened.

“Nano means technological advancement. Nano means moving forward. So, I have decided to gift it to my nephew who is studying computer engineering,” said Chatterjee, expressing sorrow over the Nano project's departure from Singur.

But Arun Das, the Congress candidate from the Singur Assembly seat in the 2006 elections, was unhappy even though he managed to procure an application form. He had wanted to be the first. “I was one of the first persons to give up my land for the Nano project. Though the plant is no more in Singur, I wish to be the first person from Singur to bag the Nano,” Das told Hindustan Times after receiving his application form.

“I want to ride the car because I want to show to our pro-farming neighbours what they have missed,” Das said.

According to State Bank of India sources, 25 application forms were distributed from its Singur branch. “The response was good. We expect more applicants in the days ahead,” P.K. Chandra, branch manager, said.

However, there was not much enthusiasm among general villagers in Singur about the Nano.

Peasants, who had protested against the Tata plant in Singur and had led to the project's withdrawal from there, however, seemed unperturbed. “It means nothing for us. Are we going to eat it?” Sahadeb Das, a septuagenarian from Khaserveri village, said.