Mamata: Why Delhi? Kolkata Chalo!

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While her ministry was busy tying itself in knots on Tuesday over the stampede at the New Delhi railway station on Sunday that has so far claimed three lives, Union railway minister Mamata Banerjee was petulantly declaring her loyalty to home town Kolkata. This, despite the flak she has been drawing from her political opponents for being an “absentee” minister.
Unmoved by the criticism as also the stampede, the Trinamul Congress chief declared her fierce loyalty to her home town today. “Why should I be in Delhi? Delhi is not my home. When there is no Parliament session, why should I stay in Delhi? Kolkata is my homeland,” she said. It’s noteworthy though that even while Parliament is having its sittings, Ms Banerjee has often been away in Kolkata. As for the railway ministry, it was at pains once again to defend itself, maintaining there was no stampede at platforms 12 and 13 from where two Bihar-bound trains were to leave. So on Tuesday evening, it decided to show reporters the video footage of the scene at the platforms to bolster its claims that there was no stampede.
The footage, of course, appeared to show platforms 12 and 13 as a sea of calm with people walking in a disciplined manner and none of the chaos that left two persons dead on Sunday itself. There was no “bhagdar” (stampede) was the railways’ constant refrain as also claims that there was no last-minute change in the platform from which the Bihar-bound trains were to leave.
While the BJP has already slammed Ms Banerjee for her frequent absences from the capital, on Tuesday it was the turn of CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury to lash out at her. “The Prime Minister and his Cabinet should clarify why she is neglecting her duties for a mere civic election?” Mr Yechury asked.