The rail budget, presented by Mamata Banerjee in Parliament on Friday, has evoked mixed reactions from political parties. While BJP slammed the budget saying that it had been prepared in haste and failed to provide the needed impetus even, Congress described it as pro-people and a reflection of the policies of the UPA government.
"The budget builds on the achievements of the UPA government in the last five years," Congress spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters soon after Mamata Banerjee presented the rail budget in Lok Sabha.
He said it was a pro-people budget. "Special focus has been on the SC/ST areas of the country through the budget," Tewari said.
The silver lining, according to Tewari was that no fares had been increased in times of economic recession.
Asked whether the budget was better as compared to the one presented by Lalu Prasad last year, Tewari said every budget has to be seen in perspective.
Meanwhile, BJP President Rajnath Singh said the people will have to wait for the implementation of the Budget to know whether it is effective or not. The party leaders said that the budget had been prepared in haste and failed to give the needed impetus.
Senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said the budget was a "grave injustice" to Bihar. "Nothing has been done for Bihar, the state which I represent. It is a great injustice to the people of the state," Hussain said.
Another BJP leader Gopinath Munde said that injustice had been done to his state of Maharashtra as there was nothing in the budget for the people of the region.
Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said it was a "good budget". He also referred to the PPP model and said it would be very effective.
Asked whether Maharashtra has got a good deal, he said "if something more had been given, it would have been better".
