Mamata’s gift to poor: Rs 20 per month rail pass

Trinamul Congress president Mamata Banerjee, in an unusual move, assumed charge as railway minister on Tuesday not at her New Delhi Rail Bhavan office but at the headquarters of the Eastern Railway at Kolkata’s Fairlie Place — a stone’s throw away from Writers’ Buildings, seat of the state’s Left Front government in West Bengal.

Keeping an earlier promise, Ms Banerjee announced special Rs 20 monthly passes for all those with a monthly income below Rs 500. “This is for small vendors, labourers and other poor people who cannot afford tickets and regular passes. The railways will give them economic freedom to travel by train,” she said.

She also announced a new train for West Bengal, named Kandari Express after the famous poem by Nazrul Islam, whose birth anniversary fell Tuesday. It will run daily between Howrah and Digha in a month’s time.

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Singur talks positive

Friday’s much awaited meeting between the West Bengal government and the Trinamul Congress-led Krishi Jomi Raksha Committee (Save Farmland Committee) on the Singur imbroglio ended on a positive note. “We are heading towards a solution. Discussions are on and will resume tomorrow,” Trinamul delegation leader Partha Chatterjee said after the talks, chaired by West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

The meeting at Raj Bhavan began at 4.10 pm and lasted three hours. State industry minister Nirupam Sen, who led the government side, said later he was hopeful of a positive outcome. “We discussed all issues, including land. We had a free and frank discussion, and we are hopeful that tomorrow, when the talks resume, we will arrive at a solution,” he added. Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee is under considerable pressure from her own party to withdraw her agitation soon.

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Mamata is losing support in Singur

Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, spearheading the Singur agitation, might forcibly enter the Nano factory the moment the Tatas decide to withdraw from West Bengal.

Trinamul sources said this was what “Didi (Mamata) has been contemplating for long.” He told this newspaper: “This could be risky... if we decide to enter the factory by breaking the boundary walls and sit on a dharna.” While Ms Banerjee appeared set for a head-on collision with West Bengal’s Left Front government, she also sent a delegation to hold talks with governor Gopal krishna Gandhi on Sunday. The governor had sent a letter Saturday asking her to agree to negotiations.

Ms Banerjee, despite her “pro-people” stir, also appears to be losing considerable local support in Singur. A breach is also becoming evident within her party on the issue. Some leaders fear that if the Tatas were forced to leave Bengal, the CPI(M) could regain the political advantage as it would hold them (Trinamul) for the loss of a major project.

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