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Nitish Kumar rejects Mamata's charge

Shahid K Abbas in New Delhi

Union Railways Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday rejected in Lok Sabha Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Bannerjee's charge that he has been 'rewarded' for suppressing facts on the Godhra train carnage and asserted that 'nothing has been hidden or will be hidden' by his ministry from the on-going probe.

Amid sharp divisions between the Bihar and the West Bengal members, across party lines, Congress member Kamal Nath raised the issue of Mamata's allegation, which she had made against the minister after the Union Cabinet on July 29 decided to go ahead with the Eastern Railway bifurcation.

Rejecting all charges Nitish Kumar said, "The railways itself was a victim of the Godhra incident, leave alone being rewarded for what is being alleged."

Kamal Nath and other opposition members also said the minister was shying away from laying before the House the forensic report of the Godhra incident and furnishing the list of passengers travelling in the Sabarmati Express coach, which was burnt down.

In response Kumar said the preparation of the forensic report was a matter of investigation for the state (Gujarat) police, and not the railway department.

Disclosing that the train was overcrowded that day (February 27) and it was not certain whether all the passengers had managed to board the train, Kumar said he has directed the Railway Traffic department to visit the residence of the listed passengers to get more information.

He said that till now only 'four or five' ex-gratia payments have been made to the next of kin of the victims who died in the carnage.

Pointing out that he never indulged in the 'politics of give and take', Kumar explained that his party was a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance coalition on the basis of a common minimum agenda and 'there was no other understanding'.

Kumar, while referring to former prime minister Dewa Gowda's point that his 1996 Cabinet decision was to 'create new zones and not to include new divisions', said the issue of creating new divisions was 'an even earlier decision, which he only notified for operationalisation'.

Welcoming any discussion to which the House should agree, Kumar said that the operational feasibility could be explained with clarity in case the discussion takes place in the House.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan said that in case the Business Advisory Committee agreed to a discussion on the issue, it could take place.

Earlier, Communist Party of India -- Marxist leader Somnath Chatterjee said his party did not want the issue to 'degenerate into confrontation'.

He said all surveys and committee reports had earlier ruled against the feasibility of further creation of new railway zones. He said that the decision of the government to create new zones was an 'operational disaster', which was turning out to be a 'confrontation of one state against another'.

Samata Party member Prabhunath Singh said that Mamata Banerjee wanted to become the railways minister to cover up some of the 'misgivings of her earlier tenure'. "I would soon come out with more details on the issue," he added.

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