Mamata Banerjee in crosshairs for IRCTC-Saradha deal

KOLKATA: A controversial deal between Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Ltd (IRCTC) and Saradha Tours and Travels has stirred up a hornet's nest in Bengal politics on the eve of two crucial assembly bypolls on September 13.

The deal was signed during Mamata Banerjee's tenure as railway minister. It was part of Bharat Tirth project that Mamata announced in her railway budget for 2010-11.

The deal has come handy to Opposition parties that have gone to town with it to tear into Mamata's 'satatar pratik' (symbol of honesty) image. Pradesh Congress president Adhir Chowdhury has even demanded that Mamata resign and face an inquiry. "The deal points to the direct involvement of the then railway minister. She should step down from the CM's post and face the inquiry. She may resume office only if she comes out clean," Adhir said on Thursday.

The Pradesh Congress chief may have stepped over a line, but his offensive is not without reason. The Congress leader draws his strength from the defensive statement of Mamata's lieutenant and former railway minister Mukul Roy, who was more interested in clearing himself than defending his leader.

"It (the deal) didn't happen during my tenure. Authorities like CAG will look into it," Roy, the Trinamool national secretary, had said. Sensing that his statement did more damage to his party than good for himself, Roy went back on his statement and claimed he was quoted out of context.

Roy's flip-flop apart, it's a fact that there has been no solid backing of Mamata from the Trinamool camp as yet. Calcutta high court lawyer and Congress leader Arunava Ghosh raised some pertinent questions on the deal. "I am not saying that the deal should be seen as proceeds of the Saradha crime. But the railways has to explain why tours under the project were awarded to Saradha without floating any tender. And this, when Saradha Tours didn't have the required five-year experience," he said.

The Opposition says the railway expose has hit the bull's eye in the Saradha probe. It points to the Trinamool chief's giving favour to the Saradha Group that had donated ambulances and motorbikes to the Mamata government for Jangalmahal. The deal has surfaced a year after Mamata took the high moral ground after the Saradha bubble burst.

"Kunal chor, Tumpai (Srinjoy Bose) chor, Mukul chor, ami chor, aar apnara sobai sadhu? If they are thieves, you (CPM) are not innocent either," Mamata had said, trying to drag CPM into the muck that her party was in. A year down the line, Kunal Ghosh is in custody, Srinjoy has been questioned by Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), and ministers Madan Mitra and Shyamaprasad Mukherjee, and MPs Arpita Ghosh and Ahmad Hassan Imran are under CBI scanner.