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| Bengal gets 14 of the 57 new trains, 4 of the dozen “Duronto” express |
| Mamata eyes assembly polls |
| Prasanta Paul, Kolkata, DH News Service: |
Fresh from the stunning victory of the Trinamool Congress in the Lok Sabha and the local bodies’ elections, Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday gifted as many as 14 of the 57 new trains and four of the dozen “Duronto” express introduced in the rail budget to West Bengal, her home state.
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Not only that, proposals for a new EMU coach factory at Kanchrapara, a power plant at the tribal-dominated region of Adra, expansion of the Kolkata Metro and decision to lift more wagons are among the host of new initiatives that will directly benefit Bengal, currently being ruled by the CPM-led Left Front government. If the rail budget is any indication, she has been steadfastly proceeding towards consolidating the base of her party on the one hand and striving hard on the other to remove the stigma of an anti-industrialist levelled on her by the Marxists in the wake of the Nano’s exit from Bengal.
“She has opened a new vista for using the resources and expertise of the private sector,” said Jessop managing director P K Ruia while the Indian Chamber Commerce said that the railway budget will boost infrastructure by focusing on logistics hubs, and facilitate the smoother flow of goods and services, and hence enhance business and industrial prospects.
“We are happy with the declaration(takeover of the ailing Burn Standard); we hope something positive works out,” Burn Standard’s Howrah unit general manager Anindya Das said. “We hope we can prove ourselves to the railways,” he added. Keeping in mind the agitations led by the Trinamool Congress against land acquisition, she came up with the proposal of using the Railway Land Bank for industrial development. “If taken forward effectively, this will lead to seamless acquisition of land for new industries, and facilitate industrialisation, economic and social development,” argued Jayanta Roy, Indian Chamber of Commerce senior vice president.
The CPM in West Bengal is cautious, saying that she wanted to gain “some cheap popularity”. Indeed, there is no denying the fact that she could very much sense, in the wake of the recent unprecedented victories in the polls, that the CPM’s traditional support base has been crumbling fast.
The slew of initiatives aimed at benefiting Bengal is to increasingly corner the CPM’s criticism to a level and gain as much mileage of her party as possible to take on the might of the Marxists in the next assembly elections.
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