Catching Mamata

Some may say Union Minister for Railways Mamata Banerjee has been playing truant. Some may call her plain irresponsible. Given the utter predictability of her conduct,its perhaps best to leave the distinction to the domain of semantics and ask Banerjee how long she intends to make her ministry,the Union cabinet,even parliamentary proceedings,to say nothing of stranded commuters who every now and then suffer the whims of railway staff,orbit her arithmetic and agenda for the West Bengal assembly elections scheduled next year. As a cabinet minister with a key portfolio,she has no excuse for her absence and negligence. Why then was Banerjee so elusive on Tuesday when the opposition cornered the government over the Mumbai suburban railways motormens strike that paralysed Indias commercial capital? Did Banerjee,as Union railway minister,not have a responsibility towards the 7 million commuters held to ransom for the length of a day by railway employees whose conduct her office is ultimately accountable for?

Well,the minister,busy with her electoral arithmetic for the Kolkata municipal polls,chose not to make any comment,even as the strike saw the Union government moving the Bombay high court for getting the motormen back to work as well as the Maharashtra chief minister intervening. While the cabinet is indeed collectively responsible,Banerjees style of functioning is the hallmark of the worst form of rent-seeking and hostage-holding that coalition partners often subject the Union government to. In fact,the Trinamool chief seems to be competing with the DMK at the moment on which ally can most embarrass the Congress. Thus,in Banerjee,theres a lesson for the Congress too.

Whether it be train accidents,an abysmal attendance at cabinet meetings,or land acquisition,Banerjee has demonstrated that her ministry was not her priority,that she though not the first or only minister to do so wanted to use this national leverage for unambiguously regional,narrow political ends. There has been even a gentle rap from the prime minister late last year. It is time Mamata Banerjee was given a clear choice between the two jobs.