PRESENTING THE CASE: Leaders of the National Democratic Alliance coming out of the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday after seeking the intervention of President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to save the life of the fasting Trinamool Congress leader, Mamata Banerje e. Among those in the picture are: BJP president Rajnath Singh (extreme left), his party colleague, V.K. Malhotra (third from right), JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav and NDA convener George Fernandes (both in the back row). — PHOTO: V.V. KRISHNAN

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New Delhi/Kolkata: Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee ended her hunger strike on the 25th day following a letter from West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee inviting her for talks, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's letter communicated to her close to midnight.

Ms. Banerjee's decision came after Mr. Bhattacharjee invited her, in a civil tone, to come for talks with evidence in hand and after calling off her fast. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh followed up by writing to Ms. Banerjee assuring her that Chief Minister Bhattacharjee was willing to discuss all issues with her and asking to her to end her fast.

"I am ending the fast," Ms. Banerjee announced, "because the country's top leaders, including President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have requested me to do so."

In a letter written to Ms. Banerjee on December 28, Chief Minister Bhattacharjee stated that the State Government had received from the West Bengal Governor "a list of farmers in which you have raised the issues of those who already took the cheques and gave us the land and those who did not receive the cheques or otherwise did not provide the land." He requested her again to "discuss all these issues with the Government" and assured her that he had "an open mind to discuss all these issues." Adding that he understood that Ms. Banerjee had "the information and positive supportive documents that without due process of law we have acquired the land substantially by force," he assured her that "such allegations of yours are not correct." However, if she felt that "those are substantial," he was prepared to discuss those issues of the land in question. In view of her deteriorating health and the need for "a congenial atmosphere for discussions," he appealed to her to end her fast.

Initial reports suggested that the various elements who had gathered round the Trinamool leader in this campaign were divided on what to do in response to these offers. Informed sources in New Delhi believed that though the Chief Minister's offer was "very reasonable," Ms. Banerjee's political friends would not be helpful. There were also indications that if Ms. Banerjee did not take up the Chief Minister's offer, the State Government would be left with no option but to arrest her and remove her to hospital. What settled the issue in the Trinamool camp was Ms. Banerjee's fast-deteriorating health status.

Mr. Bhattacharjee's letter came in response to daylong efforts in New Delhi to find a solution to the problem created by the Trinamool Congress leader's fast. Both President Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Singh expressed concern over Ms. Banerjee's deteriorating health. In the evening, her friends in the National Democratic Alliance sought to enlist Mr. Kalam in the campaign to make the West Bengal Government relent. Even as a delegation led by the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, waited at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President's staff issued a statement.

Kalam spoke to CM

According to the first press release, the President has spoken twice to Chief Minister Bhattacharjee, two days ago and again on Wednesday evening. Later in the evening, the Rashtrapati Bhavan issued a second press release, expanding the first one to include an additional paragraph. "The President spoke to the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, also today and expressed his serious concern and emphasised the need to find a way to end the stalemate and to enable her to end the fast."

In the morning, the Prime Minister spoke to Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat to explore a way out of the stalemate. Dr. Singh is believed to have proposed a formula, apparently worked out in consultation with West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi. Under this, the West Bengal Government would be asked to keep in "abeyance" the handing over the land belonging to those farmers who, according to Ms. Banerjee's complaint, had given consent letters under coercion and in violation of the procedure. This would have covered 488 acres out of a total of 997 acres acquired.

The West Bengal Government is reported to have made it clear that keeping the status of this land in "abeyance" was not acceptable. The proposal conveyed to Ms. Banerjee by Chief Minister Bhattacharjee in his letter was an alternative to the formula suggested by the Prime Minister.

Mr. Bhattacharjee's letter of December 28 was preceded by three letters he wrote to Ms. Banerjee.

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