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Lalu says Mamata suffers from complex, accuses her of Bihar neglect

NEW DELHI — RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Friday sought to embarrass railway minister Mamata Banerjee on the rail budget saying she had used his achievements in the ministry to build her case.

Yadav, the former railway minister who was not preferred by the Congress leadership in the new government, also accused her of neglecting Bihar in the budget.

Lalu Prasad minced no words in criticising his successor, and even alluding that the latter had virtually copied several of his own proposals to present them as her own, including the promise of upgrading 50 train stations into world class facilities.

“Is this a budget? She has just read out what I had announced during my stint. She suffers from a complex,” he said.

Prasad claimed there was “nothing new” in the budget and that she had just read out what he had prepared during his stint. “She has used my achievements as a base to build her vision,” he said.

As Bihar was given a big miss in Banerjee’s rail budget, she got flak from Lalu Prasad. He said, “New trains will pass through Bihar but won’t stop even at Patna. So, what will people in Bihar do? Just say, “OK, Tata.”"

Banerjee in turn took a dig at her predecessor, Lalu Prasad, calling targets set by him unrealistic.

“Based on the reviews, it is very clear that the unrealistically high targets set in the interim budget are not sustainable and warrant a mid-course correction,” Banerjee said while presenting her ministry’s budget for the current fiscal in the Lok Sabha.

In the interim rail budget, Lalu Prasad had set a target of earning Rs 59,059 crore from goods and services and Rs.25,000 crore from passengers. But Banerjee projected the goods earning at Rs.58,525 crore and passengers earning at Rs 24,309 crore.

“I have now set more realistic targets for 2009-10 in the main budget based on the continuing trend of recession in the manufacturing sector and exports,” she said, adding freight and commercialisation targets of Prasad had fallen short of targets.

In a combative mood, Lalu Prasad said he was not bothered by the Mamata’s declaration of coming out with a white paper on the organisational, operational and financial situation and performance of railways in the past five years when Prasad was at the helm.

“This is not an embarrassment (that a white paper is coming out). Let her bring out white paper. I am not bothered,” he told reporters after Banerjee presented the rail budget in Lok Sabha.

- AGENCIES

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