CPM says budget poll gimmick,lacks vision

The CPM Politburo,meanwhile,said Mamatas Budget lacked vision,neglected the safety aspect,concealed gross failures through misleading announcements and gimmicks,introduced a wholesale privatisation programme and exposed the sharp deterioration in the performance of the Indian Railways.

Basudeb Acharia,the CPMs leader in Lok Sabha,said the large number of projects Mamata announced for West Bengal with an eye on elections would not see the light of the day. Last year,she announced that a coach manufacturing unit and a thermal power plant would be set up in Bengal,but work has not yet started,he said. Railways should not be used for making gains in elections. Railways should not be used for that purpose, he said.

Acharias comrades from Kerala said the state did not get enough. Party MP P K Biju said several of the long-standing demands of Kerala,including creation of a peninsular rail zone with Thiruvananthapuram as it headquarters,did not find favour once again.

Kerala is not included in the proposed South-South freight corridor and the state will not benefit from the freight movement, he said.

The Congress hailed the Railway Budget for not increasing passenger fares,but reserved its judgement on its other aspects saying inside statistics could be explained only by the minister. In this seventh successive Railway Budget under UPA I and UPA II,there has been no hike in fares. Both UPA governments need to be congratulated for that, party spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said.

The BJP slammed the Railway Budget,describing it as directionless. Announcements in the Railway Budget are mostly related to activities of other ministries such as agriculture,education and medical,and not about more funds for new rail line,passenger amenities or modernisation projects of the Railways, said BJP Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde. ENS