ASSEMBLY POLL '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS '98
ARCHIVES

Mamata won't join govt without railway portfolio

Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee has ruled out any shift in her stance on getting the railway ministry and made it clear that she would not budge an inch in this regard.

Talking to the media, Banerjee said she had a talk with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and made her intention clear to him.

She said she would not opt for any other portfolio. "We will not join the coalition ministry at the Centre, if we do not get what we have demanded," she said.

Meanwhile, Railway Minister Nitish Kumar has said no one could challenge the prerogative of Vajpayee to drop and include any minister, if he so desired.

Replying to questions by media persons on the reported keenness of Mamata Banerjee on the railway portfolio, Kumar said it was for the prime minister to decide about allocation and re-allocation of ministries.

Asked whether he would be willing to take up another portfolio in lieu of the railway ministry, he said a decision in this regard lay in the hands of the prime minister. And added that Vajpayee had not discussed the issue with him as yet.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report