Mamata again skips Cabinet meet, loses temper at media

NEW DELHI: Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee skipped the Cabinet meeting again on Tuesday, saying she had "some serious job" to do rather than attending the meeting on Jharkhand but lost her temper when reporters asked her about her frequent absence.

Although Banerjee had earlier remained away from several Cabinet meetings as she used to be in West Bengal, she did not attend the Cabinet meeting held this morning to decide on President's Rule in Jharkhand despite being in Delhi.

"It depends on how serious is the meeting," she said, justifying her absence from the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"Sometimes the ministers go, sometimes they have some other duty they do it. It is a very casual thing, nothing serious," she said.

Banerjee said she did not attend the meeting as it was "only for Jharkhand...a very simple meeting" and that she was "doing some serious job here."

While defending herself, she targeted her predecessor Lalu Prasad Yadav, saying he "did not answer a single question" in Parliment on Railways during his five-year tenure but the media did not question it.

"If I remember correctly, my predecessor Laluji did not answer a single question in Parliament in five years tenure. I replied 99.9 per cent questions. Why did not you ask this question to him? You people are politically baised," she replied to the reporters' queries on her frequent skipping of Cabinet meetings and left in a huff.

When asked about reports of differences between Congress and her party Trinamool Congress, Banerjee said, "Some conspiracy is going against us. This is very unfortunate."

She said she would attend the meeting in the evening for release of UPA report by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on completion of the government's one year, saying it was her "first priority" to do so.

"There are no differences between Trinamool Congress and Congress...we are absolutely comfortable...I have great respect for the Prime Minister," Banerjee said.

Alleging that "some people are spreading rumours" to "create some confusion between the two parties", she said, "I can assure you there is no difference between Trinamool Congress and the government."

The Railway Minister said that she is "part and parcel of UPA" and has "some obligatons and duties" as an ally.