Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi on Thursday said that the people of the State want a solution to the Singur issue.

"People of the State want a solution to the Singur issue. People of the State desire and deserve a solution," Gandhi told reporters on the sidelines of annual general meeting of Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry in Kolkata when asked whether he was hopeful of a solution.

Gandhi played a crucial role in trying to resolve the stalemate at Singur where Tata Motors suspended work on the Nano small car project for almost a month.

On Wednesday, in a veiled criticism of the Left Front government for its handling of the Singur issue, Gandhi had said a dialogue should have been held much earlier and not when a crisis was at hand.

"The first imperative is that of a dialogue, not when a crisis hangs overhead, but well in advance," he had said.

The standoff between the ruling Left Front and the opposition Trinamool Congress over acquisition of land for the project had dampened the prospects of Nano rolling out from the State as had been planned earlier.

Even mediation by Gandhi had failed to bring the two sides to an agreement.

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