West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that the Railway ministry would remain with her party and the projects announced by her for West Bengal in this year's budget would be completed.
"We have six ministers of state. The Railway ministry will remain with the Trinamool Congress. I had discussions with the PM in this regard," Banerjee said at a railway function here.
Stating that the projects that she had announced as in the previous railway budget were on various stages of implementation, she said that the projects announced in this year's budget would also be completed.
"Some people said that the project in the state would not be completed after I left the Railway Ministry. But they should know that before announcing the project I had them sanctioned by the Finance Ministry and the Planning Commission and then passed by the Parliament. Therefore, even if I am not in the ministry the projects will be completed," Banerjee said.
Pointing out that she had completed about 40 days in office as the West Bengal Chief Minister, she said, "A journalist pointed out to me within this time I have completed 72 pending jobs. This doesn't include those I did not announce publicly."
Taking a dig at the erstwhile Left Front government in the state, without naming it, she said, "The work will not remain stopped if anyone says that I will not work. Non-cooperation will not help. The world will move forward anyways".
Minister of State Mukul Roy said that Banerjee would remain "the brightest star among the railway ministers since Independence".
He said that during the regime of four earlier railway ministers, the state got only four trains. "In her two years in the railway ministry this time, she has given countless number of trains to the state. She has also given the state 16 manufacturing units. She has not merely announced the projects, she has also shown the determination to implement them," he said.
Banerjee on Thursday inaugurated Metro Railways new automatic fare collection machine, besides other local trains.