BJP’s outreach move ahead of Madarihat bypolls
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is gearing up for a 'public outreach' campaign in the Madarihat Assembly segment, as it seeks to retain the seat in an upcoming by-election.
The Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, has written to railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw accusing chief minister Mamata Banerjee of misusing railway services during her recent trip to Malda and Murshidabad for attending an administrative review meeting and a political rally.
Although the letter is dated 4 May, Adhikari shared it in the public domain on Saturday. In the letter, Adhikari has alleged that the CM, while travelling on 3 May in Saraighat Express from Howrah, forced extended stoppages of the train at three stations to serve her own political agenda.
“In spite of being fully aware of the critical connectivity provided by this train to the northeast, she forced an extended stoppage of the train at Bardhaman Junction by five minutes to accommodate her chit-chat with Kokhan Das, a party functionary,” Adhikari’s letter to the railways minister read.
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Adhikari added that the scene was repeated at Bolpur station to accommodate Bikash Roy Chowdhury and Chandranath Sinha. “At Malda, the train was constrained to stop for 31 minutes against the scheduled stoppage time of 15 minutes,” Adhikari said.
The Leader of Opposition also requested the railways minister to order an inquiry into the matter and take action against the offenders as well as the errant railway personnel because of the disruption of the punctual movement of the train.
Meanwhile, Adhikari, on Saturday also questioned why the dates for hearing on enhanced dearness allowance to state government employees in the Supreme Court are getting postponed frequently. Adhikari was addressing a public meeting of the joint forum of state government employees that is spearheading the movement in this matter at Hazra crossing, within a km from the residence of Mamata Banerjee.
“Whenever there is a case against Suvendu Adhikari, the matter comes up for hearing within three days. But unfortunately, when it comes to the hearing on dearness allowance, the matter gets postponed from December to July. I am aware of many such games behind the scene,” he said.
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