BJP rubbishes Rail Budget, Lalu less than impressed

New Delhi, July 3 (PTI) Mamata Banerjee's first Railway
Budget was Friday rubbished by her predecessor and Rashtriya
Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad as also Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) but Left parties and Samajwadi Party gave a mixed
view on it.

Prasad, who is out in the cold despite supporting the
government, said many proposals in the budget, including
launch of double-decker train service and non-stop quick
trains, were "impractical".

Even on the budget's positive aspects, he refused to give
credit to Banerjee, saying she had used his achievements in
the Ministry to build her case. "Is this a budget? She has
just read out what I had announced during my stint...She
suffers from a complex," he said and accused the Railways
Minister of discriminating with his state Bihar.

Reacting to the Budget, BJP's Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha
(Lower House of Indian Parliament) Sushma Swaraj said it was
"unrealistic and based on fantasy. This Budget has forgotten
the ground realities and taken big flights of fancy."

She accused the Railways Minister of ignoring vital
aspects like security and expansion of railway tracks.

Swaraj said there was an expectation Banerjee would move
away from the set pattern of Railway budgets announcing new
trains and destinations but she kept this framework intact.

"Mamata has announced new double-decker trains without
ensuring that height and condition of tracks are in keeping
with the requirements for such trains," she said.

Swaraj felt that even the launch of 12 non-stop trains
was announced without taking into account the practical issues
involved. "I felt I was hearing a fairy tale when the Railway
Budget was being presented," the BJP leader said while wanting
to know whether the minister had factored in the recent
increase in diesel prices.

Swaraj, however, welcomed three measures announced by
Bannerjee -- introduction of special train for ladies, the
young and Rs 25 passes for those from the unorganised sector.

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hailed Banerjee for
doing a "competent job" at a short notice, saying the Railway
Budget will make train travel an "enjoyable experience".

Communist Party of India (CPI) National Secretary D Raja
termed the Budget as "over-enthusiastic and ambitious" and
said "we don't know how she will implement all these
measures."

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Basudeb
Acharia said Banerjee had prepared the Budget with the 2011
West Bengal elections in mind.

Referring to the announcement of constructing a 1,000
MW power plant in Adra area of the state, he said "without
acquiring land at Adra, she has proposed building of this
power plant. It is a big project which will require at least
1,000 acres of land. I don't know how she will acquire land
for this. She has been opposing land acquisition and now she
proposes land acquisition."

However, Acharia and Raja welcomed several "positive"
features like no raise in passenger fares or freight charges
and the concessions given to various sections of people.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav described
the Rail Budget as a "mix of sweet and sour". PTI ARC
RAI
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