Nano might have taken India by storm; but the car’s proposed birthplace at Singur is still mired in controversy.

Now, it is the turn of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), CPM’s trade union wing to throw plant activities haywire.

Tata’s mild sarcasm while unveiling ‘Nano’ on Thursday has embarrassed Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacherjee’s party. After the Trinamool Congress-backed stir held up the plant’s work for several months, the CITU has now taken up the cudgel to spearhead a bitter agitation against the plant authorities at Singur where Nano is supposed to be mass-produced from this year end.

Temporary guards, many of whom lost their land to the project, have stalled operations at the plant, spewing anger against the authorities for summarily dismissing them following erection of a concrete wall around the 935-acre facility.

Demanding restoration of status quo and promise of permanent jobs, these guards, under the CITU banner, have resorted to sit-in, stalling entry of trucks and officials into the plant premises.

Ironically, on Thursday, when Tata took a pot-shot at attempts to disrupt the dream car project saying the car could have been named “Buddha” (Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee) or “Despite Mamata” after TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, he could not possibly expect this.

And, it was from this day, work schedule at the Singur plant had been hijacked by agitating guards.

For Bhattacharjee and his party who have been caught on the wrong foot, it has become a matter of deep concern as also embarrassment as their own partymen have thrown a spanner in the works.

While the CPM Politburo member Biman Bose is not exactly happy over the turn of events, the CITU state president and CPM Central Committee member Shyamal Chakraborty claimed that the matter would be sorted out very soon.

Bose felt that the state government need to “do something for the dismissed people” and Chakraborty pointed out that such things “might happen; but we’ll explain the situation and sort it out by finding some alternatives for them”.

The dismissed workers reportedly threatened others against reporting for duty. “Outsiders cannot work here when we are being sacked,” alleged one worker.

While Singur remained on the boil over retrenchments, Ratan Tata was more vocal about West Bengal’s industrialisation and cautioned that the state would remain farm-based if development was not given a chance.