Mamata U-turn: Blames CPI-M for Gyaneshwari train tragedy

Kolkata : Months after accusing the Maoists of triggering the 2010 Gyaneshwari Express train derailment – which killed 149 people – West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a former railway minister, Sunday did a volte-face and blamed the Marxists for the tragedy.

Banerjee in November 2011 held the Maoists responsible for the Gyaneshwari disaster.

“When I was railway minister, the CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) used to inflict damage on railways each and every day. Everyday problems were created either in the functioning of the (Kolkata) Metro or in the Indian railways to malign me. People were killed by planning the accident of the Gyaneshwari (Express). They (CPI-M) are so dangerous. People of Bengal will never forgive them,” Banerjee said at a programme organised by railways.

“They have taken the state backwards, rather than taking it forward. They can do us any harm by carrying out malicious campaign against us. When I had announced projects in the railway budget, they had said these are all eyewash. Now what will they say,” she said.

Banerjee said the people of West Bengal will never forgive the CPI-M for ruining the state and asked the Marxists to criticise her government after it completed 35 years in office.

During her stint as railway minister, Banerjee accused the CPI-M of perpetuating the Gyaneshwari train derailment.

The Mumbai-bound Gyaneshwari Super Deluxe Express derailed May 28, 2010 in Jhargram in West Midnapore district, after a part of the track was sabotaged, and the train was rammed by a goods train.

Later, after taking over the reigns of the state as chief minister, Banerjee in November last year held the Maoists responsible for the train disaster.