Walkouts, uproar mar Railway Budget presentation in LS

New Delhi, Feb 26 (UNI) Walkouts and uproar by MPs from the NDA parties-BJP, Shiv Sena- and the Samajwadi Party marred the two-hour long presentation of the Railway Budget by Mr Lalu Prasad in the Lok Sabha today.

Even MPs from the Left parties were seen on their feet gesticulating towards Mr Prasad who continued to read out the Budget speech unmindful of the din in the House. Nothing was audible what the MPs were protesting.

The uproar by MPs came after one and a half hour long presentation of the Budget when Mr Prasad counted the names of some towns of Bihar where a rail project has been proposed to come up.

When the repeated pleas for order in the House went unheeded, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said " those who do not want to listen better go out...'' Mr Prasad who began the Budget speech in his characteristic style at 1200 hrs finished it at 1400 hrs making an announcment on fare and freight concessions at the end.

Earlier, as Mr Prasad got up to present the Budget, BJP MPs waived photocopies of a newspaper report in which he had purportedy made some remarks against the people of Karnataka. But Mr Prasad made it clear that his statement was distorted in the press."I respect the people of Karnataka and it was I who made a Prime Minister from the state" he said amid the thumping of desks by Treasury bench members.

UNI JSS RP AS1504