Railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal is a staunch loyalist. And being
faithful to the party’s top hierarchy how can he neglect the
Sultanpur-Amethi-Rae Bareli belt in central Uttar Pradesh, considered
the invincible bastion of the Congress in India’s most populous
province.
No wonder then that a large number of railway projects have been carefully gifted to this belt. Rae Bareli — Lok Sabha constituency of Congress president Sonia Gandhi — has bagged six of these 11 projects announced. Four more have gone to Sultanpur and another to Gauriganj in Amethi, the seat from which Rahul Gandhi is elected to the Lok Sabha.
Here are some reasons why the BJP is crying foul and describing this budget as a Rae Bareli budget.
1) The ministry has proposed to set up a new forged wheel factory at Rae Bareli.
It was important to meet increasing demand, reduce dependence on imports and to generate employment opportunities, says the minister. For this an memorandum of understanding has been signed with Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL)
2) A doubling has been proposed at Rae Bareli- Amethi route.
The minister has said that he has been receiving representations from state governments and other public representatives for this.
3) Bansal has proposed a new line — Faizabad-Lalganj via Akbarganj, Maharajganj and Rae Bareli.
Rae Bareli has got mention thrice again in express train routes. The minister has proposed to start a) Kolkata-Agra Express (weekly) via Amethi, Rae Bareli and Mathura; b)Lucknow–Varanasi Express via Rae-Bareli (6 days a week) and c) Yesvantpur–Lucknow Express (weekly) via Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh
Sops for Sultanpur:
1. New lines are proposed in the Sultanpur-Kadipur route
2. DEMU services have been proposed in Lucknow-Sultanpur route
3. New lines to be completed in 2012-13 also has a reference of Gulbarga-Sultanpur route
4. Sections proposed to be doubled in 2013-14 includes Bhadaiyan-Sultanpur
Reacting to this ministerial affinity for the Rae Bareli belt, BJP leader Narendra Modi promptly tweeted that Gujarat has been grossly neglected. DNA did a detailed study of the budget to figure out if the capital city of Modi’s state has been neglected. It turned out Bansal had paid attention to this widely anticipated criticism and had also granted Ahmedabad some of its wishes.
The budget says :
1. Ahmedabad to have one of the six Rail Neer bottling plants apart from plants at Vijayawada, Nagpur, Lalitpur, Bilaspur and Jaipur.
2. Doubling has also been proposed in Vatva-Ahmedabad (third line).
3. Electrification has been sought in Delhi Sarai Rohilla–Rewari–Palanpur– hmedabad including Kalol-Gandhinagar-Khodiyar and Alwar-Bandiku-Jaipur-Phulera
4. There is talk of gauge conversion in Ahmedabad-Bahucharaji route
Routes that are proposed get new express trains:
a) Ahmedabad – Jodhpur Express (weekly) via Samdari, Bhildi
b) Bandra Terminus – Hisar Express (weekly) via Ahmedabad, Palanpur, Marwar, Jodhpur, Degana
c) Gandhidham – Visakhapatnam Express (weekly) via Ahmedabad, Wardha, Ballarshah, Vijaywada
Trains whose frequency are to be increased
a) Agra Fort –Ahmedabad Express (Daily from the current thrice a week)
b) Ahmedabad-Nagpur Express (Thrice a week from the current twice a week)
c) Gorakhpur – Ahmedabad Express (Twice a week from the current once a week)
So, possibly the BJP is overplaying the Rae Bareli card. Bansal has not been that unfair as the BJP has tried to portray.
No wonder then that a large number of railway projects have been carefully gifted to this belt. Rae Bareli — Lok Sabha constituency of Congress president Sonia Gandhi — has bagged six of these 11 projects announced. Four more have gone to Sultanpur and another to Gauriganj in Amethi, the seat from which Rahul Gandhi is elected to the Lok Sabha.
Here are some reasons why the BJP is crying foul and describing this budget as a Rae Bareli budget.
1) The ministry has proposed to set up a new forged wheel factory at Rae Bareli.
It was important to meet increasing demand, reduce dependence on imports and to generate employment opportunities, says the minister. For this an memorandum of understanding has been signed with Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL)
2) A doubling has been proposed at Rae Bareli- Amethi route.
The minister has said that he has been receiving representations from state governments and other public representatives for this.
3) Bansal has proposed a new line — Faizabad-Lalganj via Akbarganj, Maharajganj and Rae Bareli.
Rae Bareli has got mention thrice again in express train routes. The minister has proposed to start a) Kolkata-Agra Express (weekly) via Amethi, Rae Bareli and Mathura; b)Lucknow–Varanasi Express via Rae-Bareli (6 days a week) and c) Yesvantpur–Lucknow Express (weekly) via Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh
Sops for Sultanpur:
1. New lines are proposed in the Sultanpur-Kadipur route
2. DEMU services have been proposed in Lucknow-Sultanpur route
3. New lines to be completed in 2012-13 also has a reference of Gulbarga-Sultanpur route
4. Sections proposed to be doubled in 2013-14 includes Bhadaiyan-Sultanpur
Reacting to this ministerial affinity for the Rae Bareli belt, BJP leader Narendra Modi promptly tweeted that Gujarat has been grossly neglected. DNA did a detailed study of the budget to figure out if the capital city of Modi’s state has been neglected. It turned out Bansal had paid attention to this widely anticipated criticism and had also granted Ahmedabad some of its wishes.
The budget says :
1. Ahmedabad to have one of the six Rail Neer bottling plants apart from plants at Vijayawada, Nagpur, Lalitpur, Bilaspur and Jaipur.
2. Doubling has also been proposed in Vatva-Ahmedabad (third line).
3. Electrification has been sought in Delhi Sarai Rohilla–Rewari–Palanpur– hmedabad including Kalol-Gandhinagar-Khodiyar and Alwar-Bandiku-Jaipur-Phulera
4. There is talk of gauge conversion in Ahmedabad-Bahucharaji route
Routes that are proposed get new express trains:
a) Ahmedabad – Jodhpur Express (weekly) via Samdari, Bhildi
b) Bandra Terminus – Hisar Express (weekly) via Ahmedabad, Palanpur, Marwar, Jodhpur, Degana
c) Gandhidham – Visakhapatnam Express (weekly) via Ahmedabad, Wardha, Ballarshah, Vijaywada
Trains whose frequency are to be increased
a) Agra Fort –Ahmedabad Express (Daily from the current thrice a week)
b) Ahmedabad-Nagpur Express (Thrice a week from the current twice a week)
c) Gorakhpur – Ahmedabad Express (Twice a week from the current once a week)
So, possibly the BJP is overplaying the Rae Bareli card. Bansal has not been that unfair as the BJP has tried to portray.
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