Mamata for Didi?

Singh-ji's 'Will Didi Slay the Railway Demon' is spot on in its recommendations of how Railways can stop its procurement leak running over Rs. 50,000 crore in the last decade. Well, it is almost spot on. Singh-ji has made one error. It might be a strategic error, but it is an error nonetheless. His articles assume that the Minister herself wishes to clean up Railways. Big mistake. Didi is interested in only one thing. While it is true that it is bureaucrats that have eaten and continue to eat over 90% of the kickbacks involved in Railways procurement and operation, one cannot be so naive to think that her party has not begun to channel Railways booty into its party-fund for the greater glory of Bengal. By not attacking the Minister directly Singh-ji may have been able to get his news printed, but this has prevented the issues he has exposed from taking a political and thereby public turn. One must turn to a different kind of hack, Suresh Tripathi, not without his own problems, to understand what Singh does not say. Tripathi's writings in his publication Rail Samachar are an informative window into the inside world of Indian Railways. He shows the kind of officials Didi has used to get her Railways work done. Chairman Railway Board Vivek Sahai, enmeshed in recruitment corruption found no problem in becoming Didi's chosen one for CRB or take the continued existence of RDSO Director K.B.L. Mittal legendary for his own exploits. Tripathi also exposes what it is in Didi's management that led to the latest rounds of RRB scams. Bureaucrats are still ruling the roost in Railways gobbling up far more than they can digest. But, Didi is not clean, because her clean image is being used for a feast by both bureaucrats and her party fund collectors. So should there be mamata for Didi, Singh-ji?