TMC stages walkout over Railway Minister's reply in RS, says funds for Bengal cut

New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) Trinamool Congress MPs on Monday accused the BJP government of cutting railway allocations to opposition-ruled states.

They also slammed Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw over his faux pas in the Rajya Sabha while replying to a debate on his ministry's work.

Vaishnaw, while replying to a debate on the working of the Railways Ministry in the Upper House, concluded his reply by asking the House to approve the "budget" without any "cut motions," which was objected to immediately by TMC's parliamentary party leader Derek O'Brien.

The TMC leader raised a point of order, and said, "This was not a discussion on the Railway Budget." Ghanshyam Tiwari, who was in the Chair at the time, did not allow the point of order, leading to the TMC MPs trooping towards the Chairman's podium.

The Chair then said he had already called for the Manipur Appropriation Bill to be taken up. TMC MPs then staged a walkout from the House.

Speaking to media outside Parliament, O'Brien said they were not allowed to speak even for a minute.

"I don't know whether to be angry, sad or feel like I am in a circus. PM Narendra Modi's Railway Minister participated in a discussion on the Ministry of Railways. At the end of the discussion, he discussed passing the Railway Budget. This actually happened," O'Brien said.

"My colleagues and I wanted to speak and wanted this to be corrected. PM Modi and a team of ministers can come to TMC and we will give them tutorials on the rules of Parliament," he said.

He also accused the Union government under the BJP of cutting funds for West Bengal.

"The Railways budget has been cut for opposition-ruled states over the last 10 years. For Bengal, it has come down from 15 per cent to 5 per cent," he added.

On the other hand, O'Brien said, Railway expenditure has gone up from 5 per cent to 10 per cent in Maharashtra, from 4 per cent up to 8 per cent in Uttar Pradesh and from 2.4 per cent up to 6 per cent in Madhya Pradesh — all states ruled by the BJP.

"Mr Modi's cabinet has a one-line agenda when it comes to Bengal - to deprive Bengal, squeeze Bengal because you cannot defeat Mamata Banerjee politically," he added. PTI AO AO VN VN

Source: PTI