The Opposition parties slammed the Railway Budget and questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that his Government will promote co-operative federalism. They said the trajectory of the Budget will result in making the Railways a choice of the rich and affluent. The budget is likely to face stiff opposition from the regional parties when it is taken up for discussion in Parliament this week.

The Congress said the new Government’s direction for the country is diametrically opposite to that of the socialist path.

“Everything is being done to appease the capitalists. Social obligations of our Government have been criticised as if we had committed a mistake in following them. We apprehend that the Government is heading more and more toward privatisation,” Congress leader and former Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.

The CPI(M) said the projects such as dedicated bullet train corridors will result in large-scale land acquisition.

“There are no economic plans to back the projects that were announced in the Budget,” Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) leader in Rajya Sabha,said. He said allowing PPPs to develop the railway stations will increase the burden on passengers.

Tamil Nadu unhappy The AIADMK said the Budget has not helped Tamil Nadu. “The Budget has completely neglected Tamil Nadu. It does not offer a future plan for the Railways,” AIADMK leader M Thambidurai told Business Line .

The Biju Janata Dal said the Centre has presented PPP as the panacea for all the problems faced by the Railways. “It is a lacklustre Budget. The Eastern Railways contribute more than ₹15,000 crore a year to the Railways. But our demand for an investment of ₹3,000 crore in Odisha has been neglected,” BJD leader Bhartruhari Mahtab said.

Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee said the Budget has really derailed the Indian Railways.

“This is a vision-less, parent-less and action-less budget without a single new idea,” he said.

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