Rail Budget short-sighted, ignores 'aam aadmi', 'garib': BJP

New Delhi, Mar 1 (UNI) The Opposition BJP in the Lok Sabha today flayed the Railway Budget 2006-07, saying it was short-sighted, anti-poor and lacked vision for the next 15 years.

''The Budget is not for the 'aam aadmi', and 'garib', but for the 'khaas aadmi', BJP leader Ananth Kumar said, initiating the discussion of the Budget.

He said Railway Minister Lalu Prasad's Budget was off track like his politics.

''Wah re Lalu ajab tere khel, jahan nahin track wahan pahuncha di rail (Lalu is great, he is running trains where there are no tracks),'' he said, apparently hinting at Lalu's Bihar.

Mr Ananth Kumar said the Budget was an epitome of regional imbalance as it ignored Karnataka, West Bengal and Kerala.

This drew loud protest from Left members from West Bengal and Congress members from the South.

The BJP leader said the UPA government had done away with several modernisation programmes such as the Integrated Rail Modernisation Plan.

''What happened to the bullet trains,'' he asked and said introducing these trains were the only way to compete with the aviation industry.

''Instead of increasing the speed of exisiting trains, bullet trains should be introduced,'' he said.

He also demanded more money for the metro rail projects in Mumbai, Hyderabad, and other metro cities.

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