Two days after a train disaster in West Bengal claimed 67 lives, railway minister Mamata Banerjee said (prospects of) the post of the state’s chief minister is dearer to her than her Union cabinet portfolio. “Railway minister is not my true identity. My prime identity is that I am a citizen of West Bengal and, hence, my prime duty now is to work for Bengal. I had once resigned from the railway ministership since I don’t have greed for anything,” Mamata said.
The Trinamool Congress chief was addressing a rally of around eight lakh people in Kolkata to mark ‘martyrs day’ for 13 Youth Congress workers, who were killed in police firing in 1993. Mamata was Youth Congress president then.
Though calls for her ouster have grown louder after Monday’s mishap, she said she won’t resign till she achieves her Bengal-related goals. “The CPI(M) is provoking me to resign. But the people do not want me to resign now,” Mamata said.
