While the Trinamul Congress in West Bengal sent a strong signal to the Congress threatening to go it alone in the state elections after winning four of six civic body elections on Tuesday, Trinamul Union minister of state for tourism Sultan Ahmed shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh complaining of lack of work for ministers of state.
Also opposing the appointment of Shankarsinh Vaghela as ITDC chairman, the Trinamul minister told the PM that the appointment is against the “austerity measures” proposed by the government and “will entail additional financial burden on ITDC”.
This is the first time in UPA-II that any MoS has written to the PM complaining of lack of work. Mr Ahmed vritually asked the PM to scrap the post of MoS, saying they had become “irrelevant and redundant”.
In his letter, Mr Ahmed wrote: “I have also brought to your kind notice that Union ministers of state are not taken into confidence for any important policy decisions and virtually have no work of any importance.” He added: “In view of this I feel that ministers of state have become irrelevant and redundant.”
Mr Ahmed has also raised the appointment of Mr Vaghela as Indian Tourism Development Coprporation chairman. For Mr Ahmed, “this is the first time” that a “politician” has been appointed to this post. “I would like to place on record in public interest my reservations on the issue of appointment of Shankarsinh Vaghela as ITDC chairman,” he wrote, adding “it’s a fact” that Mr Vaghela was appointed despite the fact that the “new CMD, ITDC, is already carrying out his duties effectively”. Mr Ahmed felt the appointment was “uncalled for” and “not in line with the recently announced austerity measures”. The letter was delivered to the PM’s 7, Race Course Road residence Tuesday evening.
The Congress-Trinamul alliance continues to be stormy and, during the CWC meet on Monday, the Trinamul came under sharp attack for trying to dictate terms to the Centre.