The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Congress MPs finally meet Mamata Banerjee

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Wednesday, Jul 08, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Congress MPs finally meet Mamata Banerjee

Seek Rs.1,000 cr. immediately to implement railway projects

Hand over a letter from Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy to the Railway Minister
Ponnam Prabhakar elected convenor of the State Congress Members of Parliament

HYDERABAD: Congress MPs from the State met Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in New Delhi on Tuesday seeking at least Rs 1,000 crore immediately to implement pending and ongoing railway projects in Andhra Pradesh.

During the 30-minute-long meeting, the MPs sought sufficient funds for railway projects. They also handed over a letter written by the Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy listing out the various projects that would benefit the State.

The MPs said an amount of Rs. 5,000 crore was needed to complete all the projects. When the Minister said it may not be possible to allocate such huge sums, the MPs urged her to at least sanction Rs. 1,000 crore.

They also wanted her to take a quick decision on transferring Waltair Division of East Coast Railway to South Central Railway. They said that the transfer of Waltair division would not entail any additional financial burden on the Railways.

Communication gap

Earlier, the State Congress MPs were caught in an embarrassing situation when Ms.Mamata Banerjee told them that she had waited for one hour for them on Monday.

Sources said that following protests by the Congress MPs after the presentation of railway budget last week, the Minister had asked the State MPs to meet her on Monday.

It is learnt that Rajya Sabha member J.D. Seelam was asked to coordinate the appointment and prepare a memorandum. Due to a communication gap, the MPs did not turn up.

Meanwhile, Karimnagar MP Ponnam Prabhakar was unanimously elected convenor of the State Congress MPs. Mr.Prabhakar said that he would ensure that the party MPs were divided into subject-wise groups for effective coordination with different ministries.

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