Railway Budget 2009-10: Mamata picks holes in Lalu’s 5-yr joyride
The railway budget has brought to the surface the latent tension that has been building up between railway minister Mamata Banerjee
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and her predecessor Lalu Prasad. Miffed at her attempts to puncture his trackrecord as the railway minister, the RJD chief on Friday alleged that his successor in the Rail Bhawan was a “complex-ridden” person who was trying prepare her “Vision 2020’’ for the ministry on the basis of his “achievements.’’
Earlier in the day, Ms Banerjee, while presenting the rail budget for the year 2009-10 , had made a determined bid to pick holes in her predecessor’s report-card . With the RJD strongman in attendance, she not only announced that she’d undertake a review on the “unrealistic targets’’ set in the interim budget, which was authored by Mr Prasad, but also told the Lok Sabha that the ministry would come out with a white paper on the “organisational, operational and financial status based on the last five years’ performance.’’
The railway minister’s remarks were seen as a direct attack on her predecessor’s stint in the Rail Bhawan during the Manmohan Singh government’s first term. Mr Prasad has not only claimed credit for reversing the fortunes of the ministry, but also leaving behind a glorious legacy. By promising the white paper, Ms Banerjee has now sought to put a question-mark over the RJD leader’s claims.
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