New Delhi, Aug 12: Trinamool Congress stages a day-long dharna here to protest the decision to bifurcate Eastern Railways. Banerjee said here that she was boycotting the dinner being hosted by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for ruling NDA MPs tonight on the eve of vice presidential poll. "How can we take part in the dinner when our agitation is continuing on the Eastern Railway bifurcation issue," she asked. Her struggle on the issue would continue, she asserted.

Trinamool Congress, which had earlier planned to hold dharna near the Prime Minister`s residence, has shifted the venue to Jantar Mantar near Connaught Place, TC MP Sudip Bandhopadhyay said adding that this was done as police did not grant them permission.
"We have no objection to creation of a new zone with headquarters in Hajipur (Bihar) but Dhanbad and parts of northern West Bengal, added to other new zones, must be retained with Eastern Railway," Bandopadhyay.

Bureau Report