Soon after presenting his maiden Rail Budget, the Railway Minister, Mr Dinesh Trivedi, on Wednesday faced criticism from his own partymen for proposing a hike in passenger fares. The Trianmool Congress has demanded a rollback of the proposed fare hikes.

Trinamool chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Mr Sudip Bandopadhyay, claimed that the party was not aware of the proposed hike in passenger fares and said that they would ask the Railway Minister for a rollback of the proposed hike.

"We, from the TMC, do not support the proposed hike in railway fares. The proposals are against the party policies. We will ask the Rail Minister for a roll back," he said.

Immediately, after the Budget was presented, senior Trinamool Congress leader and the party’s Rajya Sabha MP, Mr Derek O’ Brein, made clear his displeasure about the proposed fare hikes. Tweeting his reaction on the budget, Mr O’ Brien on the micro-blogging site, Twitter, said that he could agree to the hike in rail fares across the board. He, however, said that he would have been “okay” if the hike was restricted to the “Upper Class”.

“Railway Budget...what was all that about increasing fares across the board? Upper class...maybe ok...but all? Sorry, cannot agree,” he tweeted.

abhishek.l@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics