Kolkata, Aug 19 - Flush with success in the Lok Sabha polls, Railways Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is slated to meet the chambers of commerce Aug 21 in an effort to project she is not against industry in West Bengal, despite forcing the Nano car plant out of Singur.
The meeting has created a buzz in political and industrial circles of the state as it is being construed as Banerjee's attempt to extend her appeal among the industrialists ahead of the state assembly polls, scheduled two years from now.
After beating the ruling Left Front in all recent elections in the state, Banerjee has set her eyes on the 2011 assembly polls as she sees a golden opportunity to oust the combine and fulfil her chief ministerial ambitions.
Now a part of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre, the developmental activities initiated by Trinamool Congress ministers led by Banerjee are mostly aimed at consolidating their support base. They are also making inroads among sections of the populace who are yet to wholeheartedly endorse the party's programmes and philosophy.
Banerjee's stock among industrial captains plummeted after her party's strident opposition to the state government's land acquisition for the Tata Motors' Nano car project in Singur, 40 km from here, that led to the auto major shifting the plant to Gujarat.
Trinamool Congress led another movement that forced the government to cancel its plans for a chemical hub in East Midnapore district's Nandigram. The two incidents scared industrialists away from the state, and the Left Front now finds it difficult to acquire land even for road projects.