The Trinamool Congress is planning to make the Railway Ministry’s proposal to discontinue services of eight “commercially non-viable” local trains in and around Kolkata a big political issue before the panchayat elections.
Warning the Centre to withdraw its proposal or face consequence in the form of mass movement State Minister Partho Chatterjee said “they will face massive resistance if they go ahead with the programme of ruining our important suburban railway network with an intention to break our economic backbone.”
Adding that the central decision amounted to insulting the State and its people he said, “They are insulting the people of Bengal and depriving them of their right. We demand that the Indian Railways and Eastern Railway withdraw the letter sent to the state Chief Secretary.”
Earlier the Railway Ministry had in a letter to the State Government proposed to withdraw the local train routes including those between Ballygunge and Budge Budge, Canning and Sonarpur, Burdwan and Katwa, Shantipur and Nabadwip and Sealdah and Kalyani Simanta.
Among these routes the one between Canning and Sonarpur started way back in 1872. Some of the routes were started by Mamata Banerjee as the then Railway Minister “for the sake of rural empowerment.”
“All these are primary in terms of sustaining the suburban economy as they cater to the livelihood of the local people who travel between their villages and Kolkata in these trains. This is being done to hit us below the belly as they are failing to defeat us politically in the elections,” Minister Firhad Hakim said.
Chatterjee said a strong letter had been written by the State Chief Secretary to the Railway Ministry. And “if they fail to see reasons then the Trinamool will descend on the streets and take the issue to the people.” Another senior minister said the decision would not go in favour of the BJP aspiring to occupy a position in the State politics.”
The Eastern Railway’s Commercial Department sent the letter to the State on January 17 to seek consent for discontinuation of the rail routes in Bengal unless the state bore 50 per cent of the losses.
Objecting to the Trinamool’s line senior BJP leader Rahul Sinha said “the Ministry has not proposed to withdraw the routes but asked the State Government to subsidise the loss by 50 percent. If the Trinamool genuinely cares for the people of the State then they should consider the option.”