M A I N   N E W S

PM wants Mamata in Cabinet
T. R. Ramachandran
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 15
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is keen to induct Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee into his Cabinet and keep the controversial bifurcation of the Eastern Railway in abeyance till then.

Mr Vajpayee has decided to put the reorganisation of the zones in the Railways on hold by assuring that the issue will be taken up by the Union Cabinet afresh. This has been done to overcome the prevailing impasse and pave the way for Ms Banerjee’s reinduction in the BJP-led NDA government at the earliest.

There were enough indications that the bifurcation of the Eastern Railway will not be taken up at the customary and weekly meeting of the Union Cabinet here tomorrow. That affords direly needed breathing space to the Vajpayee government and Trinamool Congress.

Mr Vajpayee is keen that Ms Banerjee rejoins his Cabinet. Once Ms Banerjee joins the government, the bifurcation of the Eastern Railway can be referred to the Cabinet.

That will ensure that Ms Banerjee is present in the Cabinet when the issue of carving out new zones is taken up. She will have the opportunity of expressing her unvarnished views on the subject along with the objections of all political parties in West Bengal.

Thereafter, whatever decision the Cabinet takes will be a collective one and Ms Banerjee will necessarily have to be a party to it. At the same time, if the decision is not in keeping with Ms Banerjee’s approach and stand it might not be long before she bids adieu to the government yet again.

After casting her vote in the presidential election here this afternoon, Ms Banerjee welcomed the Prime Minister’s decision to refer the issue of the bifurcation of the Eastern Railway to the Union Cabinet.

Taking strong exception to projecting the objections raised by the Trinamool Congress to the bifurcation of the Eastern Railway as a West Bengal-Bihar row, she said the agitation launched by her party would remain suspended till the issue was discussed afresh by the Cabinet.

She stressed that several former Railway Board Chairmen and economists had underlined the need for status quo being maintained as far as the Eastern Railway was concerned. She alleged that certain decisions on the reorganisation of zones had been taken arbitrarily which would have a deleterious impact on the country’s gigantic railwaysystem.

With the Prime Minister sending out unambiguous signals that he wants to amicably resolve the imbroglio connected with the bifurcation of the Eastern Railway, there are indications that Ms Banerjee might not be averse to joining Mr Vajpayee’s Cabinet now. This is particularly so with the bifurcation of the Eastern Railway having been put on the back burner at least for the present.

Meanwhile, Union Railways Minister Nitish Kumar remains unbudging on implementing the Cabinet decision and MPs belonging to Laloo Prasad Yadav’s RJD have threatened dire consequences if the creation of the “East Central Railway” with headquarters in Hajipur is stalled indefinitely.