West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee could be staring at troubled times ahead as the Saradha scam trail seemingly leads up to her doorstep.
Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is under attack for her reported pro-Maoist statements, on Friday refused to be drawn into the issue in Rajya Sabha saying she will fight her political battle outside Parliament.
Opposition and allies alike slammed Railway Minister Mamata Bannerjee for the train collission in Sainthia.
Stating that the Budget is passenger friendly, Mamata Banerjee said the annual plan for 2011-12 is Rs 57,630 crore.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has suspected the involvement of Maoists in the derailment of the Gyaneshwari express on Friday as the incident comes on the first day of the 'black week' being observed by the Naxals.
Sudheendhra Kulkarni, former political aide to senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani, has joined a key committee of the Railway Ministry. Kulkarni, who dissociated himself from the BJP on Saturday citing ideological differences, on Wednesday, said that he had joined a committee appointed by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday demanded an inquiry into the derailment of five bogies of the Howrah-Dehradun Doon Express in Uttar Pradesh, stating it should be probed whether it was an 'accident or an incident'. "Since the accident has taken place during a countrywide bandh, we want this to be probed. Who has caused this mishap? It has to be seen whether this is truly an accident or an incident," Banerjee, a former railway minister, said.
Downplaying her absence from the Union Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday morning, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said there are no differences between her party and the Congress. She added that she will attend the United Progressive Alliance meeting to present the coalition's 'report card' on the completion of one year of its second stint.
The Communist Party of India - Marxist on Saturday rubbished suggestions by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee that a political conspiracy was behind the Gyaneshwari Express disaster in West Midnapore, alleging that she was trying to cover up lapses and failures of her ministry in the incident. Senior CPI-M Politburo member Sitaram Yechury also said some elements were 'cynically' using the situation to further their petty partisan interests.
In an interview with rediff.com's Anisha Ralhan, M G Arora, former executive director of safety, Indian Railways, explains how lobbyists and deflectors operating at different levels have corroded the lifeline of the nation.
The failed alliance with Congress for the May 30 civic polls in West Bengal notwithstanding, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said her party did not want any rift with the United Progressive Alliance government.
The Indian Railways will invest Rs 41,426 crore (Rs 414.26 billion) in 2010-11 for sprucing up its network, and over a third of the planned outlay would go towards manufacturing coaches.
Last year, she drove the Tata Motors' Nano factory out from West Bengal. Three days ago, Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee turned down another Tata offer a donation of Rs 27,70,660 to her party from the Tata Sons Electoral Trust.
Families of the two policemen, who were kidnapped by Maoists on July 30 as they stepped out of their security camp in Dharampur in Lalgarh District, have arrived in the national capital to meet Union Railways Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram. Sources said that Banerjee is aiming to derive maximum political capital from the West Bengal government's inability to counter the Naxal menace effectively.
Defending Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Sunday that he found "nothing wrong" in the key United Progressive Alliance ally's statement that the killing of top Maoist leader Azad was not correct.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, a strong votary of dialogue with Maoists and has sought a halt to joint security operations against them, had a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Wednesday.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday attacked Union Home Minister Amit Shah over violent protests against the new citizenship law, saying his job is not to set the country on fire but to put it out. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas' slogan, she said the BJP government has brought "satyanaash" (disaster) for everyone in the country.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday rejected the demand of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee for an inquiry into the killing of Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad. "Please tell me under which law the Centre should initiate an inquiry into the encounter killing of Maoist leader Azad, I am asking my non-lawyer friend (Bharatiya Janata Party leader) Yashwant Sinha," Chidambaram said while replying to a discussion in the Lok Sabha.
"Yes, it is almost that," senior CPI-M leader Basudeb Acharia told reporters when asked whether the Budget was the Trinamool Congress' manifesto for the Assembly polls. However, Acharia and CPI national secretary D Raja welcomed several 'positive' features like no raise in passenger fares or freight charges and the concessions given to various sections of people.
She said that the budget will have approach for 'inclusive growth' and expansion of rail network to take development to every corner of the country.
"The Rail Budget is likely to be presented on July 8. The ministry is preparing a status report to be presented before the Railway Minister. The report is to be submitted in a day or two and after that the budget outline will be drawn by the minister," a senior ministry official said.
Kolkata-based quiz master Derek O'Brien and leading artist Shuvaprasanna will head two separate committees set up by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee to improve passengers' amenities and services in trains and stations.
Marking the anniversary of the end of the 34-year-old Communist Party of India - Marxist rule in the state, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, flanked by her supporters, on Sunday took out a march and claimed that her government had fulfilled most of its poll promises.
Sonia Gandhi would never have smiled so much publicly as she did today during presentation of the Railway budget by Mamata Banerjee, which by all accounts was a spirited exercise.
The Congress on Saturday expressed anguish at Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's absence in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's engagements at the Science City in Kolkata and described her public outbursts against United Progressive Alliance government's policies as 'an embarrassment'. "It is sheer embarrassment for the Congress party when a major ally of the UPA government, particularly its seven ministers in the Union ministry, criticises central government policies in public.
Her statement came ahead of a crucial round of talks scheduled to be held between the Centre and representatives of the agitating farmers during the day.
Despite being in the Opposition in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee is 'setting' the agenda for the state government. In the past weeks, the government has taken three major policy decisions for which the Trinamool Congress had been agitating to make a public opinion.
UPA government has decided to take full responsibility for the Rs 4,874 crore East-West Metro Corridor project.
An FIR was lodged by the Trinamool Congress after a car trailed Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee when she was returning home from a meeting in Kolkata, but it turned out that the 'pursuers' were television journalists seeking an interview with her.
Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, say sources, plans to close deals, which would create jobs either in Erie, Pennsylvania or in LaGrange in Obama's home state of Illinois.
If the Congress doesn't agree to these explicit riders, no support, says Trinamool.
In a snub to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Mamata Banerjee-led Railways kept the Communist Party of India-Marxist veteran away from the ceremony attended by President Pratibha Patil to mark the start of a new Metro Rail project in Kolkata.
Accusing the Marxist government of unleashing 'state-sponsored terrorism' in West Bengal, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday warned that it would invite 'punishment' if the government did not act constitutionally.
The Centre should call off the operations in West Midnapore district and instead engage the Central forces in unearthing illegal arms allegedly stockpiled by the Communist Party of India-Marxist in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said on Monday.
The ambitious project of the urban development ministry, pegged at Rs 4,676 crore, was originally scheduled to be completed in 2015. It is to be executed through a joint venture company of the central and state government. Equity participation of the state and central government will be on a 50:50 basis. But soon after taking charge of the railway ministry, Banerjee had a talk with Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy about her apprehensions.
Insiders said she remained closeted with top railway officials for hours finalising the Budget on Tuesday and left her Rail Bhawan office only at 3.30 am on Wednesday.
Questioning the suggestion that Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee should mediate between government and the Maoists, the Communist Party of India Marxist on Friday wondered how she could do that when she was 'openly siding' with the ultra-Left brigade.
It will be helpful advice for a chief minister-in-waiting who is going to have to deal with empty coffers and overflowing expectations
The hike in the prices of the petroleum products will affect the common man who are already burdened with high prices. Everyone should protest against the price hike, she said.
Firing a salvo at the UPA government of which her party is a major ally, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Saturday alleged that the Centre had "surrendered" to the CPI(M) and failed to do enough to check Marxist violence in West Bengal.
