BJP Ally Shiv Sena Says Fare Hike is Like Running Over People With Train

Mumbai: The steep hike in the cost of train travel for passengers has activated a confrontation for the government with not just the Opposition but a key ally.

"The Railways Minister has run a train over the public by increasing fares," said Uddhav Thackeray, the chief of the Shiv Sena, of the 14% hike in passenger fares, in a stinging editorial in his party's magazine. He said a similar move by the Congress, which was voted out in a stunning defeat in last month's national election, would have been excoriated by the BJP, which anchors the new coalition government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Had this happened in the Congress regime, they (the BJP)  would have said that the Congress should be shot with a cannon," said Mr Thackeray.

On Friday, the government delivered the first dose of "the bitter medicine" that the Prime Minister has warned is needed to revive the economy. From June 25, rail passenger fares will increase by 14.2 percent and freight rates by 6.5 percent. (Bitter medicine to be Swallowed for Economy: Venkaiah Naidu)

Given that the BJP has a parliamentary majority on its own strength, notes of disapproval, however explicit, from allies like the Sena, may rankle but are not binding.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and other BJP leaders have defended the hike as necessary, and pointed out the previous government  deferred a plan to increase fares in May, leaving the decision, bound to be unpopular and contentious, to Mr Modi's new administration. (Rail Fare Hike Difficult But Correct Decision, Says Finance Minister Arun Jaitley)

Indian trains are among the world's cheapest. A ticket on an overnight sleeper train running the roughly 1,400 kilometres between New Delhi and Kolkata, for example, can cost as little as Rs 520. The country's  railway network is one of the world's largest, but years of low investment and populist policies to subsidise fares at affordable levels have crimped growth in new lines and hindered private investment.

The Opposition has taunted the PM by acerbically questioning if these are the "achche din" (good times) that he promised to voters when soliciting their support in his campaign for the election. Mr Thackeray, whose Sena has 18 parliamentarians and one minister in the union government, made the same point. "Modi had promised "achche din" and  had said that bringing down prices was the number one priority...but now the common man is being made to bear the burden," he said. (Would urge PM to roll back fare hike: Uddhav Thackeray)

Most of Mumbaikars commute to work on the trains and they will bear the brunt of this. Mumbai locals are the lifeline of the city and this is a huge burden for rail commuters in the city.