Mamata should get her priorities right: Opposition

NEW DELHI - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee came in for heavy criticism from opposition parties, who said “her priorities are elsewhere”, following the train accident in West Bengal Monday, the second in the state in less than two months.

“Mamata Banerjee should concentrate on railways. If she is using the railways as a platform for politics in West Bengal, it is better to make her a minister without portfolio,” Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Tarun Vijay told reporters here.

He said the accident has raised serious doubts about the railways capability to provide safety and a comfortable journey.

With an eye on the West Bengal assembly polls next year, the Trinamool Congress chief has been camping in the Left-ruled state and performing her duties as railway minister from Kolkata.

The train accident in West Bengal’s Birbhum district Monday, in which at least 60 people were killed and 150 injured, is the sixth major one after Banerjee assumed office as railway minister a year ago.

On May 28, 148 people died as Maoists cut open the pandrol clips, used to fix the rail to the sleeper, near Jhargram in West Midnapore district, derailing the Gyaneshwari Express. A speeding freight train then rammed into the derailed coaches.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury said rail accidents were continuing despite a public outcry.

“It is unfortunate. Railway minister has her priorities elsewhere,” Yechury said.

He also sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention, saying that there is need for greater safety measures.

Lok Janashakti Party (LJP) leader and former railway minister Ram Vilas Paswan demanded a judicial probe into the accident.

“Mamata should choose whether she wants to do politics of Bengal or do justice to her job as railway minister,” Paswan said.