Nearly 25 years ago, while participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha, Lalu Prasad had teased Mamata Banerjee for being denied the Railways Ministry, which Nitish Kumar had bagged in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government that lasted a little over a year. Outraged at the allegations, Ms. Banerjee said that she never wanted the Railways Ministry. “Nahi manga to nahi milega (If you haven’t asked then you won’t get),” Prasad had said.
However, months later, when the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government under Vajpayee came to power again, Ms. Banerjee took over the Railways Ministry in October 1999 and remained on the job till March 2001 before she resigned.
