Title - ‘Bengal rail projects will not be dropped’

The Congress on Tuesday hit back at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by staking claim to all the railway projects, worth Rs. 65,000 crore, sanctioned to that State in the last three years.A delegation of Congress leaders, headed by the former West Bengal PCC chief and former Minister Manas Ranjan Bhunia, called on Railway Minister C.P. Joshi and extracted an assurance that none of these projects would be jettisoned.Dr. Joshi stressed that these projects had been approved by the United Progressive Alliance government and had the clearance of both the Cabinet and Parliament, stating that it had not been approved by any individual or any party as such.Obvious directing his barb at Ms. Banerjee, former Railway Ministers Dinesh Trivedi and Mukul Roy and the Trinamool Congress, Dr. Joshi said it was necessary to set at rest the fears in West Bengal that these projects would now die a slow death.After submitting a memorandum, Mr. Bhunia charged that propaganda had been launched in the State to tarnish the image of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre with the change in guard at the Rail Bhavan after the TMC pulled out of the UPA in protest against the diesel price hike and FDI in multi-brand retail.Besides 17 major projects, including the EMU coach factory, wagon manufacturing and electric loco assembly units and East West Metro in Kolkata, worth Rs. 40,000 crore, Ms. Banerjee as Railway Minister and her two successors had cleared 63 schemes relating to construction of new lines, gauge conversion and doubling of tracks worth Rs. 25,000 crore.Even after taking over as Chief Minister, the TMC chief used to lay the foundation stone of projects and inaugurate projects or flag off new trains. Mr. Bhunia invited Dr. Joshi to inaugurate these projects in West Bengal.