Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure clears 24 railway projects worth Rs 15,000 crore she submitted at the last minute.
Six days before unveiling the 2010-11 Railway Budget, minister Mamata Banerjee sprang a surprise on her cabinet colleagues on Thursday, seeking approval for as many as 24 projects worth more than Rs 15,000 crore at the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI).
A reluctant Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee finally approved these projects without any financial assistance and only after delivering an insulting setdown at the style of functioning of the mercurial railway minister.
Tempers ran so high that an angry Pranab Mukherjee even told Banerjee: “I know you will go out and tell the press that I have not approved development projects for Bengal and other parts of the country. But, I will not give you the chance. I am approving all these projects right now.”
Out of the 24 projects, at least 10 are related to West Bengal, including four proposed expansions of the Kolkata Metro railway. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also questioned whether the Railways could implement these projects, given a paucity of funds.
Banerjee, with her 19 MPs, is the biggest ally of the Congress in the second United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
Tension and drama ruled at the meeting when Mukherjee lashed out at Banerjee for her freewheeling style of functioning as minister. “You may like to be populist and show that you are doing a lot. I also understand that your eyes are on the West Bengal Assembly polls and you want to tell your audience in the state that you care for them. But, please remember, there is a way a government functions and this is certainly not it,” Mukherjee remarked.
According to sources, Banerjee actually sent these proposals to Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar around midnight on Wednesday, with a request to put these on the agenda for the next day’s meeting.
Unnerved by Mukherjee’s sternness, Banerjee’s eyes welled up and tears ran down her cheeks. Kumari Selja, minister for housing, urban poverty alleviation and tourism, got up to console her. Another minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, was noticed offering Banerjee his handkerchief.
Mukherjee was unmoved. He announced that he was approving these projects — but without any financial commitment. “You can go ahead and announce them in your Budget. But, if you want to implement these projects, you have to arrange for funds yourself,” Mukherjee told her.
Apart from the expansion of four stretches of Kolkata Metro rail, she has proposed new connections in North Bengal’s Dinajpur and Hili areas. North Bengal is a Congress bastion, just as Trinamool Congress is strong in southern part of the state. She also sought additional fund for the rail engine factory at Madhepura, Bihar.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked the railway minister to consult the finance minister for Railway Budget preparations. Though Banerjee stayed away from scheduled Budget consultations with Mukherjee on Thursday evening, the dialogue process resumed by this evening.
According to sources, the spat was a spillover from the cabinet meeting earlier in the day, where Banerjee sided with ministers like M K Alagiri and Sharad Pawar and raised apprehensions about the new fertiliser subsidy policy. “You want to be populist and at the same time reformist. You are not ready to hike railway fares but are promoting public-private partnerships. But, when we want to bring major reform in fertiliser prices, you have questions?” Mukherjee snapped at his junior colleague from the state.
Banerjee, according to a witness, didn’t get a chance to protest then but insisted that she was trying to bring development through her Railway Budget.
Earlier, Banerjee had sought almost Rs 22,000 crore for her special safety fund to tackle train accidents. Mukherjee has partially agreed to this demand.
That relations are a bit strained between the allies, is clear from recent statements. The Congress brass has questioned her ability to run the railway ministry. “Anyone can announce 50 or 60 new trains but what about the development of railway infrastructure? There have been a spate of accidents during the past few months. She should concentrate on these issues first, rather than projects like painting stations green and announcing new trains,” said a party source.
Behind closed doors, a furious Mukherjee said Banerjee’s sole ambition was to destroy the Congress in West Bengal by discrediting Mukherjee and other Congress leaders ahead of the Assembly elections in 2011. “As long as I am alive, I will not let that happen. She may try to dub me as someone not co-operating in the development of the state, but people know what I am doing for the state as well the country. I do not require certificates from her,” he told a close aide.
