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The controversy over the move to create a new zone out of Eastern Railway may end soon, Trinamool Congress MP Nitish Sengupta told rediff.com on Tuesday after meeting Prime Minister A B Vajpayee at his residence.
After the thirty-minute meeting in the morning, Dr Sengupta said, "The PM was very positive after hearing our arguments against a new zone headquartered at Hajipur. I requested him not to allow Railway Minister Nitish Kumar to open a Pandora's box."
Dr Sengupta said the issue was a serious one and should not be handled casually. "The Trinamool Congress believes this issue can be as emotional as the Mandal issue. The country can't afford such controversies when we are facing so many crises," he told the prime minister.
Asked if Vajpayee gave any assurance on the matter, Dr Sengupta said, "He was positive and inquired if our leader Mamataji would agree to the formation of an expert committee."
Vajpayee also advised him to present his arguments before Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani.
Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has demanded that the proposed expert committee should not include any Bengali or Bihari, but should consist of only people from the railway and finance ministries.
According to Dr Sengupta, the thrust of his argument before Vajpayee was that not a single expert committee had recommended or supported the creation or bifurcation of any railway zone.
He claimed that about Rs 4,000 crore would be needed to create a new railway zone, and nine such zones have been proposed. This huge expenditure, the Trinamool Congress fears, may be met from money reserved for railway safety.
Almost all the railway unions have opposed Nitish Kumar's decision to bifurcate Eastern Railway, Dr Sengupta claimed. "The unions are going to file a writ petition in the Supreme Court on the issue," he said. "I informed PM Vajpayee that when 3,000 people are not ready to be transferred to Hajipur from Kolkata what's the point of creating a new zone on paper which will only add to the confusion?"
Sengupta also told Vajpayee, "We should not expand the area of conflict. The Shiv Sena, Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa and Gujarat also have grouses over the creation of such zones."
The Trinamool Congress did not, however, attend a meeting on Tuesday of all parties from West Bengal organised in New Delhi to oppose Nitish Kumar's decision. "It's an issue that we raised first. Where was the CPI-M when we initiated the debate?" Dr Sengupta retorted.
Meanwhile, sources in the railway ministry said Nitish Kumar, who had categorically ruled out a review of the notification creating the East-Central Railway zone, has of late shown a little flexibility and may agree to Vajpayee's request to defer the decision and refer it to an expert committee.
ALSO SEE: Nitish politicking on E-R issue: Trinamool Nitish rules out review panel on bifurcation
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