Lalu mimics Mamata

Ranchi: In yet another run-in with the railway minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, the ebulient RJD strongman, Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav, on Sunday appeared to mimic the Trinamool Congress leader over her appeal to Naxals to spare Rail property.

Injecting some humour at a rally herre in poll-bound Jharkand, the former railway minister emphasised how Ms Banerjee was saying "Please, please" to the Naxals not to make railways as their target.

Ms Banerjee on Friday appealed to the Maoists not to target trains and said she will take up the issue of railway safety with the home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram.

"I appeal to the Maoists not to target the railways. Railways cater to the common people. Maoists should not target trains," she said in New Delhi.

Her comments came in the backdrop of yet another Naxal attack on a train in Jharkhand on Thursday night in which a woman and a child died after eight bogies of the Tata-Bilaspur passenger train derailed following a blast in West Singbhum district. Several passengers were also injured.

Mr Yadav said the "pilot"(driver) of the train erred in halting the train at the command of the Naxals. The driver should not have stopped the train, Mr Yadav said, adding, "I would have done so."

Known for his wit, Mr Yadav also seemed to suggest that the Naxals would have damaged only the engine had the train continued its journey.

The passengers would have been spared at least, the former Bihar chief minister said.

Ms Banerjee and Mr Yadav had several run-ins ever since she became the railway minister in the UPA-II government.

While the new railway minister was presenting her budget, there was a game of one-upmanship between the two.