Mamata threatens agitation if joint forcs not withdrawn

Piling pressure on the Centre, Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee today threatened to take to the streets from tomorrow to press for immediate withdrawal of joint forces from Naxal-affected areas of West Bengal.

Alleging that the joint forces were committing atrocities on innocent people and TMC workers in the name of fighting Naxals, Banerjee said she was demanding their immediate withdrawal.

“Our party MPs will launch a dharna outside Parliament House in support of the demand and I will take to the streets from tomorrow, giving a call to the joint forces to quit Bengal," Banerjee told a rally at the college ground here.

Incidentally, only last week the the chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee held a similar rally at the college ground last week.

“It has become a joint venture between the joint forces and West Bengal government in the name of joint operations against Naxals”, she said.

Describing the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) as “politically bankrupt”, she listed its alleged atrocities on political adversaries particularly TMC, claiming that no development had taken place in the state in the last 33 years.

Cocking a snook at the chief minister's rally, she said “I would like the CPI(M) to come and see the turnout at my meeting”.

No rail link for Lalgarh till Joint forces withdrawn

On providing rail connectivity at Lalgarh in West Midnapore district, Banerjee said “till the situation there turns normal, we can't conduct a survey for laying tracks."

Budgetary allocations have already been made for providing rail connectivity between Lalgarh and adjoining areas, she added.

Banerjee said that the Railways had signed a MoU with the IIT, Kharagpur, for setting up a centre for railway research.

The IIT would provide technical knowhow and support to the railways to introduce high-speed trains and developing the wagon prototyping unit.

“Since Indian Information of Technology (IIT) is a knowledge industry, the railways will tie up with the IIT for launching a technology express which will interconnect the IITs in the country and exchange technical ideas," she said.

The railway minister said the wagon prototyping project would come up at Kharagpur at a cost of Rs 117 crore where different types of freight wagons would be manufactured. “Railways are required to develop freight wagons and a dedicated freight corridor will permit bigger wagons with higher payload capacity,” Banerjee added.

The advanced loco pilot training centre, she said, would train up 90 loco pilots at a time. The railway minister said that as a puja gift, railways will introduce a Howrah-Digha Duronta Express train before the pujas.

The railways, she said, had allocated Rs five crore for development of the Kharagpur railway colony.