Last Updated: April 18, 2023, 4:25 PM IST
BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari vs Mamata Banerjee. (PTI)
It all started when in 2010, then Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a Railway Project to bring a train network to Nandigram. The project, however, got stuck and the work came to a halt
Being one of the most politically significant constituencies of TMC-led West Bengal, where the feisty contest between Mamata Banerjee and her former protégé Suvendu Adhikari created headlines, another controversy of appreciation and credit has erupted — this time for a Railway project.
It all started when in 2010, then Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a Railway Project to bring a train network to Nandigram. The project, however, got stuck and the work came to a halt.
Now after 13 years, the railway ministry under BJP minister Ashwini Vishnaw wants to start the network again but the tug of war about who would get credit for this has begun.
As far as the Nandigram Railway project is concerned, the stations and platforms were built by Mamata Banerjee but the trains never made it to Nandigram. So now when the railway network reaches the constituency, who gets the credit? Mamata or Suvendu, the current MLA?
BJP MP Suvendu Adhikari, who switched sides from TMC ahead of the Bengal elections in 2021, has repeatedly claimed that even under Mamata, he supervised the Nandigram railway project. The BJP leadership also claims that after defeating Mamata, Adhikari discussed the project several times with the Centre.
On the other hand, the Trinamool claims that the construction of the railway project, which has been stalled since 2010, is a reflection of the struggle against the central government, which is the sole credit of Mamata Banerjee.
Trinamool MP and opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari’s brother, Dibyendu Adhikari, said that he has appealed to the Centre several times to start the railway line keeping in mind the overall development of Nandigram but to no avail.
For the unversed, the current Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, was the Railway Minister during the second UPA government at the Centre in 2010.
What Railway Ministry said about Nandigram railway
South Eastern Railway CPRO Aditya Chowdhury said, “The first task is to survey the area to finalise where the railway will pass through. The report will be sent to the Ministry of Railways. Besides, the budget of how much will be spent on the project will be prepared. However, since the Ministry of Railways has permitted the work, I feel that there will be no difficulty in starting this work. The field survey will be started now.”
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