West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. (Express photo: Shashi Ghosh)West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday claimed train services were curtailed in the state to stop people from attending the Martyrs’ Day rally, a charge denied by the Railways. The Railways said, in fact, several special trains were operated in anticipation of the rally.
“The Railways has curtailed services to stop people from attending the rally. We do not have enough resources to hire a rake… Several people were thwarted from coming to the city today. Nothing, however, prevented my supporters from joining the programme,” Banerjee said at the Martyrs’ Day rally.
The allegation comes a day after the TMC chief accused the Centre of making attempts to foil her rally by operating less number of trains on Sunday than the usual. “I have heard that the railways will not operate the usual number of trains tomorrow at the behest of the BJP. I have information that they will run only 30 per cent of the trains usually run on Sundays. This is not right,” she was quoted as saying by PTI.
However, the Eastern and South-Eastern Railways, who have headquarters in Kolkata, denied the charges, saying special trains were operational in the Sealdah and Howrah divisions – the main stations in Kolkata.
“In Sealdah division, eight special trains and a pair of Sunday-exempted train were scheduled for the day, in addition to the extension of a Sealdah-Sonarpur local up to Diamond Harbour,” an official of the Eastern Railway told PTI.
While in Howrah division, 11 special trains were plying in different sections and four Sunday-exempted trains were put into service.
