Row over no water in special train

The fierce political rivalry of West Bengal briefly shifted to the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday when Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee clashed with the CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat in the House.

The fierce political rivalry of West Bengal briefly shifted to the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday when Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee clashed with the CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat in the House.

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Trouble erupted in the afternoon when Karat alleged that a train hired for the disabled persons coming from West Bengal to Delhi did not have a drop of water.

Banerjee immediately rebutted saying the charge was a “politically motivated” and false.

“She is misleading the House. She is distorting the facts...It is political. Don’t do this drama,” said an angry Banerjee.

This was prompted by Karat’s statement that “the railway ministry took the full money for a special train ... coming from West Bengal. They charged Rs 17 lakh... but there was not a drop of water on the train.”

The CPI(M) leader said there was even a minister from the West Bengal government on the train, who desperately tried to contact the railway authorities, “but nobody was available to help them.”

Banerjee tried to shout down Karat and her Trinamool Congress colleagues — Ministers of State Saugata Roy and Dinesh Trivedi — joined her on the issue along with Congress member Mabel Rebello.