New Delhi, July 1: Trinamool Congress today refuted suggestions that party chief Mamata Banerjee insisted on becoming the railway minister and said her major worry was moves to bifurcate eastern and South-Eastern Railways.

"It is incorrect to state that she (Mamata) was adamant on getting the railway portfolio. She had spoken to the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister and NDA convenor George Fernandes on several occasions since yesterday to stop bifurcation of these divisions", party spokesman and MP Sudip Bandopadhyaya told a news agency. He said Banerjee had demanded that status quo be maintained with respect to eastern and South-Eastern Railways which are now based in Kolkata. "Any bifurcation of these divisions will be like dividing our motherland", he said.

Trinamool Congress has been carrying out agitation on this issue in West Bengal.

Bureau Report