New Delhi, July 18: The Cabinet is to take up the issue of bifurcation of Eastern Railway zone at its meeting on Thursday, NDA convenor George Fernandes said here on Wednesday. The whole issue is before the Cabinet and it will come up at the next meeting. Thursday is the Cabinet meeting," he said.

On the possibility of a decision on Thursday, Fernandes said that it was entirely up to the Cabinet.
The bifurcation issue had snowballed into a major political controversy with political parties in West Bengal, including NDA ally Trinamul Congress, strongly opposing the move while parties in Bihar favouring it. It was decided at the meeting convened by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee last Saturday in which Advani, Fernandes and Kumar were present, that the matter would be referred back to the Cabinet since the bifurcation proposal had been cleared earlier by the Cabinet. Bureau Report