Kolkata: There should be greater transparency in the processes involving acquisition of land for industries and deals must be concluded only after discussions with all concerned, Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Gurudas Dasgupta said here on Saturday, a day after the West Bengal Government signed a land lease deal with the Tatas for the Singur small car project.

``We know that land is needed for industries and that West Bengal does not have enough surplus land but we are against its wrongful acquisition," Mr. Dasgupta said, while addressing a workers' rally of the CPI-led All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC).

``There should be transparency in the deals and the land should be acquired only after consultation with the farmers,'' Mr. Dasgupta, said.

``The State should not resort to use of force and employ the police in the process,'' he added.

``We are also against the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) policy being pursued by the Centre and we will raise the issue in Parliament and ask the Centre to bring in changes to the law,'' Mr. Dasgupta said.

India had developed several industries in the past but did not need any SEZ policy for that, he added.

Blaming the economic policies adopted by the Congress-led UPA government for the electoral reverses suffered in the recent Assembly elections in Punjab and Uttarakhand, Mr. Dasgupta said it was the rise in prices of essential commodities that was responsible for the defeat.

``The Union budget has no provisions to tackle inflation and the Prime Minister's promise to reduce prices only amounts to paying lip-service with an eye on the forthcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh,'' he said.

Alleging that forward trading in agriculture was responsible for the artificial crisis leading to the price rise, Mr. Dasgupta said though prices were increasing, there was no corresponding increase in workers' wages.

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