Two train tragedies in two months have given parties enough fodder for political mudslinging.
All major opposition parties, with CPI(M) at the forefront, said Mamata Banerjee’s “lacklustre ways of handling railway affairs” were the reason for Monday’s mishap.
CPI(M) state secretary and Left Front chairman in West Bengal Biman Bose told reporters the mishap proved the railway minister concentrated more on gimmicks such as introducing new trains instead of improving infrastructure. “It’s high time she concentrates on safety aspects,” he said, demanding a CBI probe.
CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member Shyamal Chakraborty said, “Mamata cannot manage her own department and she is dreaming of managing an entire state [Bengal]. There was no attempt on her part to improve railway infrastructure. What she has done in the last 1 year is shameless display of cheap gimmicks,” he said.
It’s unfortunate the people of India are paying the price for having a part-time railway minister whose focus is not her department, senior CPI(M) politburo and Rajya Sabha member Sitaram Yechuri said.
LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan said it was high time Mamata made a choice whether she would like to concentrate on Bengal politics or her assignments as railway minister. “Both cannot go together… Such loss of lives every month in intolerable,” he said.
West Bengal Congress president Manas Bhuyian, however, came to Mamata’s rescue. “Mamata is a responsible railway minister. The Left Front is unnecessarily making a political issue out of the tragedy,” he said.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee also made a feeble attempt to protect Mamata by saying, “Accident is accident and it is not fair to squarely blame any individual for it.”
Meanwhile, there was ruckus in the West Bengal assembly, with Left Front MLAs demanding Mamata’s resignation. Leader of opposition and Trinamool MLA Partho Chattopadhyay said the Left Front was politicising the tragedy. “We doubt foul play,” he said.
Mamata, after reaching the accident spot at Sainthia at noon, hinted at a possible sabotage. “We have doubts about the cause of the mishap. This is the second major rail accident in West Bengal in two months. We will conduct a high-level inquiry. The guilty won’t be spared,” she said.
Nitish targets Lalu
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar targetted RJD chief Lalu Prasad. “During his five-year tenure as railway minister, Prasad virtually ignored the safety of railways which is casting a shadow on his successor at Rail Bhavan,” he said.
