Congress defends Mamata, calls the CPM demand outlandish. Bengal govt wants armed escorts on some trains.
The CPI(M) lost no time in blaming railway minister Mamata Banerjee’s alleged complicity with Maoist elements in West Bengal for Tuesday’s Rajdhani hijack drama. It sought to know from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh why Banerjee was still a part of the Cabinet.
CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat said that the links between Maoists and the Trinamool leadership should be examined. “Especially now, since it has come to light that an electoral ally of Banerjee (People Committee against Police Atrocities) was behind the hijacking of the Rajdhani,” he said. Trinamool and PCPA had fought elections in Lalgarh together. “Only joint operations in Bengal and Jharkhand can save the situation,” Karat said.
Senior politburo member Sitaram Yechury too, came down hard on Banerjee. “If your objective is to gain politically by using the Maoists, can the railways be jeopardised?” he said. “The Prime Minister should explain why such a person is part of the Cabinet,” he said.
Banerjee had on Tuesday defined Marxists and Maoists as “brothers” and her initial reaction to the hijack had been that the CPI(M) had been behind it. But, she had appeared upset after a meeting with home minister P Chidambaram, finding him too much at sync with the Left rather than Trinamool.
The Congress, however, defended her against the CPM. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “the Left’s allegation of complicity are absurd, outlandish and ridiculous and do not deserve a reaction. The Left should exercise a sense of responsibility and they haven’t provided an iota of evidence to back these baseless allegations. Such allegations dilute the national focus on countering Maoist violence,” he said.
Banerjee has tapped a popular discontent against the Left-led government, but there is no doubt that if the Maoist threat is not countered, before long, it could prove to be a problem for her.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}