Rail rant

Mamata Banerjee must remember that she will not gain Bengal by neglecting her ministry....

Question for Mamata Banerjee: whats the difference between a member of Parliament and a Central minister? Union ministers are,almost always,MPs; all MPs are not ministers. Therefore,when Parliament is not in business,an MP may,rightly,visit her constituency and she may not need to return to the national capital till the next legislative session. As an MP,a Union minister too has every right to check in on her constituency. But the ministers office is in New Delhi,and as minister,she has significant daily business to take care of. She cannot thus sit in her constituency or elsewhere indefinitely,and mostly. Does anyone,anymore,keep count how often the Union railway

minister has done precisely this?

Mamata Banerjee has been missing from cabinet meetings,she has been elusive after railway accidents,she was missing in action and word during the Mumbai motormens strike,and now,she has been missing again from the capital as it witnessed a tragic railway stampede last Sunday. For once,Banerjees ministerial office and the spotlight on the railways had the same location. But the minister was still missing. On top of it all,Banerjee made remarks about nobody being able to force her to stay in Delhi (not her home) and that she was elected to serve the people of Bengal first.

Clearly,theres a conflict between Mamata the minister and Mamata the politician. As Trinamool chief she can certainly involve herself in the Kolkata municipal polls,but as railway minister,she has to be in office and accountable. Every MP is elected by local constituents whom she must serve; but every MP,as a parliamentarian,must also serve the nation as a whole. That duty to the nation as a whole is paramount for a Union minister. Banerjee has demonstrated time and again that she is oblivious to that duty. Should she hold on to an office she doesnt like? Ironically,she forgets that her best means of serving Bengal,too,is through her ministry. Her conduct the last time she was railway minister was followed soon by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjees sweeping mandate in 2001. Theres history for Mamata the politician.