It is currently a million dollar question. Not only within rail Bhavan but outside it as well. Who will occupy the coveted rail mantri (railway minister’s) seat) once Mamata Banerjee demits office?
Will it be somebody from the Trinamul or will it be somebody from the Congress? While there have been swirling rumours that the Congress would like to take the railway ministry back, the Trinamul leader said on Friday that her party would like to retain the railways portfolio.
However, if the Congress does manage to wrest this important portfolio from the Trinamul, it might end the rule of successive regional satraps in Rail Bhavan. Satraps who, given their regional compulsions, have believed in giving rail projects and trains only to their areas rather than working to benefit the country as a whole or the railways.
While the names of several Trinamul leaders have been doing the rounds for some time, one thing is clear for sure. Ms Banerjee’s successor will be chosen by her alone and it will be somebody who will enjoy her absolute trust. For, as Trinamul insiders themselves say, the ministry will continue to be run through remote control by the Trinamul leader even after she takes over as the chief minister of West Bengal.
Among the names doing the rounds are those of her trusted lieutenant, Mukul Roy, currently Union minister of state for shipping and a Rajya Sabha member, minister of state for health, Dinesh Trivedi and the party’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Sudip Bandopadhyay.
In the case of Mr Roy, Ms Banerjee appears to have implicit trust in him. A trusted lieutenant of hers, he was there with her even when she went to meet West Bengal governor M.K. Narayanan in Kolkata on Friday evening. Mr Roy’s name as a possible replacement for the Trinamul chief in Rail Bhavan has been lately doing the rounds. Interestingly, Mr Roy is also permanent special invitee on the railway ministry’s consultative committee.
Yet another contender is another Union minister of state for health, Dinesh Trivedi. A politician known for his contacts across political parties, Mr Trivedi first entered Parliament in 1990 as a member of the RS.