New Delhi: A political debate erupted after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated a railway bridge in Singur in Hooghly district on Friday afternoon, without inviting the Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. According to a report by news agency IANS, Banerjee inaugurated the bridge at Kamarkundu railway station in Singur, the venue of the erstwhile Nano project of Tata Motors and her movement against land acquisition.
After the bridge inauguration, Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, slammed the Chief Minister saying that despite the Railway Ministry having borne a major cost of the construction, the name of the Railway Minister was dropped from the inaugural event.
Adhikari pointed out that the railway bridge was built under the joint collaboration of the Railway Ministry and the West Bengal government and the former had borne 60 per cent of the total cost, that is Rs 46.86 crore.
He further said that apart from the cost, the Railways has spent an additional Rs 5 crore for constructing a subway there.
Taking to his Twitter handle, Adhikari wrote, “Constructed by the @EasternRailway & after having spent the lion's share for the bridge, the Railway Authorities didn't even receive an invitation for the inauguration event. CM @MamataOfficial would unilaterally & unethically inaugurate the bridge today from Singur.”
“One who always tries to appear holier-than-thou & preaches about upholding "Federal Structure" of the country, is the same person who doesn't shy away from strangulating Federal Cooperativeness when it benefits her. Shame on you @MamataOfficial You are CM - Chief Manipulator,” the Leader of Opposition added.
Meanwhile, the state Vice-President of Trinamool Congress, Jaiprakash Majumdar, rubbished Adhikari's claims and said, "The Union government spends money from the tax they collect from the common people. The people of West Bengal have provided the money and so the Chief Minister of the state inaugurated that. There is no politics involved with that."