Calcutta, Aug. 20: Soon after a triumphant Sushil Kumar stepped off the wrestling mat in Beijing, another bout began in Bengal with chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee striding into the ring unannounced.

However, two hours after grappling with a Trinamul Congress lightweight on Singur, little could be shown on the scorecard other than an assurance from Mamata Banerjee that she herself might attend the next round if and when it was convened.

Therefore, as of now, the Singur siege is on course to start this Sunday. The confirmation has come with a repeat warning from Mamata that “any attempt to throttle our peaceful democratic movement” could lead to unforeseen consequences.

Bhattacharjee walked in for the meeting at Writers’ Buildings at 4.30pm, along with industries minister Nirupam Sen who was earlier supposed to chair it. Bhattacharjee apparently changed his mind after Mamata yesterday termed “incorrect” his decision to give the meeting a miss.

Although Mamata had said the chief minister’s presence was “a must” as dropping or accepting her demand for the return of “400 acres” was a “policy decision”, she chose to send her party colleague and leader of Opposition Partha Chatterjee who, in any case, could not have given a commitment on his own.

When the talks got rolling, both sides stuck to their known positions. However, Opposition sources said the chief minister appeared to have “soft ened” a lot. “Allow the cars to roll out in October. I assure you that henceforth, we will consult the Opposition on major projects,” a Trinamul leader quoted the chief minister as telling the two-member delegation. However, the claim could not be verified through independent sources.

The Opposition sources said Mamata was willing to make “concessions” but they refused to spell them out. Trinamul is portraying a subtle shift in its position – the Tata Motors plant can stay intact, irrespective of whether “unwilling farmers’ land is part of it, if 400 acres outside the car factory are returned — as a “climbdown”.

But other sources said the chief minister told the Trinamul team that the “entire project would have to be abandoned” if the 400 acres were returned. The size of the disputed farmers’ land itself is in dispute — the government’s calculations show 167 acres. Bhattacharjee said there were legal hassles and the Tatas wanted ancillary units to be close to the mother small-car plant in Singur, but the Trinamul team refused to budge.

“Trinamul leaders said they had no objections on the mother plant but insisted on returning the 400 acres. We explained the difficulties in doing that. They told us they would discuss it and join us for talks again, with necessary documents,” Sen said after the meeting. “However, the date for the next meeting has not been decided yet.”

Mamata, who was represented by Chatterjee and Save Farmaland Committee convener Purnendu Bose, angrily termed the whole exercise “negative” and an “eyewash”.

“The government has no sincere desire to resolve the Singur problem. Buddhababu is more concerned about protecting the interests of the Tatas than those of the poor farmers of Singur,” she said.

“He just wants to drag the issue and persuade us to defer our agitation, so that the Tatas can roll out their small car by October.”

Mamata, however, kept the door ajar for more talks. “We will lay siege to the car plant from August 24 but our doors remain open for discussion. If required, I myself will attend the next meeting, armed with documents to establish that the 400 acres where ancillary units are coming up belong to unwilling farmers.”

Pointing out that only 600-650 acres would be required for the car plant, she read out a paragraph from a letter sent to her by Tata Motors MD Ravi Kant.

“This would require about 600-650 acres for Tata Motors and 300-350 acres for about 60-70 suppliers of up to 1000 acres for the entire auto cluster. These suppliers would be free to supply to other auto manufacturers in the state as well as outside the state…” Mamata read from the letter.

The Save Farmland Committee will meet tomorrow to work out the details for August 24 “dharna”.