The fate of Pawan Bansal, who has been the Railway Minister for six months now, continues to hang in balance, with the Opposition increasing its pitch for his resignation.

This is in the backdrop of Bansal’s nephew V. Singla being arrested for allegedly accepting bribe for a plum post in Railway Board.

On Tuesday, Railway operations were impacted for half an hour after BJP protestors took their protests to train tracks near Kanpur. This was the first time train operations were hit after the scam broke out four days ago.

Meanwhile, CBI widened its interrogation and arrested a business partner of Singla.

Also, unconfirmed reports say CBI will also interrogate the Railway Minister’s private secretary Rahul Bhandari. This was one of the demands of BJP. CBI may also widen its investigation to other transfers and postings.

Murmurs continued in a section of the Congress Party on the need for Bansal to resign on moral grounds. “If he had not claimed that he had no business relations with his nephew, he may not have faced such backlash,” said a source.

In the Railway Board, while it has been just two working days, officials admit that decision-making in the Railway Board is bound to slow down. Some of the decisions bound to be impacted include plans to set up factories.

It may be noted that one key post, Railway Board Member-Traffic is already vacant, and two more – Railway Board Chairman and Financial Commissioner – are set to fall vacant by June 30 as the officials will retire.

mamuni.das@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics