WB parties unite on ER split, seek expert panel

An all-party meeting in West Bengal today demanded that an expert committee be set up to look into the bifurcation of Eastern Railways. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, who convened the meeting, said he will convey the parties’ views to Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee next week.

‘‘I am going to Delhi next Monday or Tuesday and will be meeting the PM. I will tell him all the committees set up by the Railways have opposed the bifurcation. It will be a colossal waste of money. We will tell him he should set up an expert committee as suggested by all the parties before going ahead with the bifurcation,’’ Bhattacharya said after the meeting. The BJP skipped the meeting.

Bhattacharya said the bifurcation will harm national integrity and the Prime Minister should do something to stop it. ‘‘We don’t want to make it a regional issue but the bifurcation will put a big question mark on our national integrity,’’ he said.

Trinamool Congress, however, said they were disappointed because the CM did not present any agitational programme to stop the bifurcation. ‘‘The suggestion for an expert committee was mooted by our leader Mamata Banerjee at least 15 days ago. We had hoped the CM would say something new. All he did was say our views will be conveyed to the PM,’’ said Trinamool MLA Partha Chatterjee.