When the Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee placed her Bengal package to the Prime Minister shortly after the BJP government took office, there was all round optimism that the long neglected railway projects for Bengal will finally be taken up in the railway budget.
But, there is more reason for despair than cause for celebration in the budget placed on Friday. While the Metro extension projects have received little boost, the minister has raised the fares by Rs 1 to Rs 3 in the three stages
Even the suburban railway commuters have been affected with an increase in monthly ticket fares. Mamata was earlier promised a super fast train for North Bengal., but She has to be satisfied with a bi-weekly train (not super fast) between Sealdah and New Coochbehar stations. In fact, no super fast train can be run in that stretch till track conditions are improved and single line portions are doubled.
What will disappoint Mamata most is the fate of the several new line projects which have been progressing at snail's pace for years, like the Howrah-Amta railway line , which was promised by Indira Gandhi, the Balurghat-Eklakhi line which was taken up when Ghani Khan Chowdhury was the railway minister, and the Lakshmikantapur-Namkhana line.
If Mamata gets another chance to present another Bengal package, she may ask for a railway minister from Bengal. West Bengal got a number of new trains and new railway projects when Ghani Khan Chowdhury was in charge of the railways. In fact, he has been the only railway minister from Bengal in the last 50 years.
Mamata has been threatening to `suspend' support to the Vajpayee government for its failure to stop CPM attack on Trinamool workers. She has not fared as well as she was expecting in the Panchayat polls , and finally, the railway budget must have been a big disappointment for her.
Will this now force Mamata make up her mind to put pressure on Vajpayee. Mamata did not join the cabinet, and so far, she has not insisted on the imposition of article 356 in Bengal. But, the railway budget may have shattered all her illusions about her own importance for the Vajpayee government. Now the question is, Will she take it lying down?
