The Railway Budget 2012 – that’s what triggered me to put down my thoughts after a long time.
To summarize, India’s Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) presented the Railway Budget amidst heaps of couplets and poetry! To recapitulate, this was a portfolio held by his Party Chief and TMC President (‘owner’ would be a better word) Mamata Banerjee for past few years, till her party won the assembly election in West Bengal and she chose to become the Chief Minister.
The budget had the following broad elements:
Passenger fares increased marginally. The increase will be by 2 paise/km for suburban and ordinary second class; 3 paise/km for mail/express second class; 5 paise/ km for sleeper class; 10 paise/km for AC Chair Car, AC 3 tier and First Class; 15 paise/km for AC 2 tier and 30 paise/km for AC I. Minimum fare and platform tickets to cost Rs.5.
As per statistics, hike in railway fares has happened after a gap of 9 years. What makes me wonder is; is there anything in this country that has not witnessed a price hike on a regular basis? Be it diesel, petrol, LPG, auto, bus, taxi, air fares, movie tickets, tax rates, electricity, water tariff, and the list is endless, so much so that I can dedicate a whole new blog-post on it!
While that was merely a recollection of facts, what left me rather intrigued were the developments that followed the budget presentation. Mamata Banerjee is seeking replacement of Dinesh Trivedi, for the hike is not acceptable to her party and shocking as it may sound, she claims that she was unaware of the budget proposal involving a hike! Yes, the Railway Minister also confirms this……How dramatic can a nautanki get in this country! Congress is obliged to replace him as it is a demand from the chief of an important 'ally' (for whatever it means). This is the same lady who is seeking an amendment to the President address to the Parliament after she had a chance to review the address. Poor Congress, which already looked lost and helpless, especially after the UP fiasco, is as usual, in a fix and loss of words!
Are we, the commoners, expected to believe that the Railway Minister presented a budget which was not approved by his party Chief?
Well, if that is the case, the verdict is out – Shri Trivedi is a "fit and proper person" to be the Prime Minister of India.
Hail the nautanki, the drama and the populist politics! Jai ho!
