Mamata's 'taxing' supporters

The revenue department will be as happy as, if not more than, the Trinamool Congress if Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee’s party wins the West Bengal Assembly polls. The finance ministry had proposed a service tax on rail freight in Budget 2009-10, but has been unable to introduce it because of Banerjee’s alleged opposition. The tax has been deferred four times, causing the hard-pressed government a revenue loss. The department hopes to introduce the tax in June and officials said if Banerjee leaves the rail ministry to become West Bengal chief minister the chances of meeting that deadline would improve significantly.