The date was July 18, 2006, when Mamata Banerjee, then an opposition leader, symbolically sowed paddy near the Tata factory site in Singur, setting the stage for a seismic shift in West Bengal’s political arena. The events that unfolded in Singur not only catalyzed a long-drawn land agitation but also heralded the eventual downfall of the entrenched Left Front government in 2011. Singur’s significance transcended its geographical boundaries, becoming emblematic of grassroots...