India News | TMC Accuses Centre of Doing Politics by Scrapping Special Trains to Ferry People for Kolkata Rally
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. With less than a week left for its much-anticipated rally at the iconic Brigade Parade Grounds here, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday accused the Centre of playing "petty politics" by rejecting the party's official request for two special trains to transport people from North Bengal to Kolkata.
Kolkata, Mar 4 (PTI) With less than a week left for its much-anticipated rally at the iconic Brigade Parade Grounds here, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday accused the Centre of playing "petty politics" by rejecting the party's official request for two special trains to transport people from North Bengal to Kolkata.
In a social media post, the TMC shared copies of a letter addressed to railway officials, requesting two pairs of special trains from Alipurduar and New Coochbehar on March 8-9, with a return journey scheduled for March 10 evening to the respective stations.
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The railways responded, stating that as the zonal railway NFR did not have rolling stock, it was unable to arrange the requested rakes.
TMC's Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien criticised the decision and asked whether similar operational issues would have been cited if the trains were requested by the Odisha CM.
In a post on X, O'Brien tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and asked them, "Would you have cited 'operational issues' if these trains were requested by Odisha CM who ensured that you got Rajya Sabha?
"Clearly not," The TMC MP said, alluding to the cordial ties between BJP and the ruling BJD in Odisha.
"Such pettiness can't stop lakhs of people from the mega rally #JonogorjonSabha on March 10," O'Brien said.
In a letter to the group general manager of IRCTC, the TMC had requested it to make arrangements so that the two trains would halt at every station en route to Kolkata.
Additionally, the TMC attached an image of another purported reply by IRCTC on February 29, which requested the party to pay a security deposit of Rs 11 lakh.
The reply stated that the deposit would be refunded after the tour programme, but it also mentioned that the availability and confirmation of the special trains are subject to feasibility determined by NF Railway.
An NFR spokesperson confirmed the unavailability of rolling stock and expressed that if available, they would have provided the requested rakes.
Addressing a press conference, senior TMC leader and West Bengal Minister Shashi Panja asserted that the required security deposit was provided.
However, she accused the BJP government of pressuring railway officials to hinder the arrangement of trains for the rally, aiming to suppress the attendance of people, particularly those addressing issues like withheld wages of 100 days' scheme.
"Zamindar-minded BJP government at the Centre exerted pressure on railway officials to prevent them from arranging trains for the people of West Bengal," Panja said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)