Budget Not Election Express: Lalu

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[Slamming the Opposition for its criticism, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad today said the 2008-09 Railway Budget should not be termed as election oriented but a &quot;historic&quot; one which has resulted in buoyancy in the stock market. &quot;No, no it is not an election express. We have presented a Budget which received widespread appreciation from the world and trade and industries' bodies. It has led to buoyancy in the stock market and the Sensex has risen further,&quot; Prasad told a press conference in Patna. Hitting back at the NDA leaders for criticising the Budget, Prasad said, &quot;It has not disappointed the masses but my political opponents as they are jealous of my abilities.&quot; To buttress his points against the Budget being seen as an exercise to woo the electorate, the railway minister said this was for bettering the health of the railways and that the process has been continuing ever since he took over the charge of the ministry. &quot;It was our -- all those working for railways -- sincere, collective and untiring effort which brought it out from the red,&quot; he claimed. Had it been an exercise aimed at election, &quot;this type of glorious history for railways would not have been scripted&quot;, Prasad said. &quot;I am a happy man now as I have proved to be a successful minister of railway, the responsibility of which I was unwilling to take up initially,&quot; Prasad said. Turning to his political rival Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who led the NDA to victory in Bihar ending the 15-year-rule of the Lalu Prasad-Rabri Devi duo in November 2005, Prasad said, &quot;Kumar proved to be a flop railway minister. The financial health of the Indian railways was ruined and it was on the verge of bankruptcy when Kumar was holding charge.&quot; The retrenchment of employees had begun and fresh recruitment barred when NDA was at power in Centre, he said. The railways was finding it difficult to pay dividends to the Central government and instead was banking on its financial support during the previous regime, he said continuing his tirade at the NDA. The Rakesh Mohan Committee, constituted at that time to study the financial health of the railways, had opined it would be difficult for the railways to survive in the next 25 years, Prasad claimed. &quot;I took over the responsibilities of the railways under pressure and reviewed the situation and started taking special measures for saving the golden bird (railways),&quot; he said. &quot;I am now proud that the railways has huge cash surplus and it does not have to depend on Central support. After earning successive profits during the past four years, we expect that the railways would have cash surplus to the tune of over Rs 65,000 crore by end of the next fiscal,&quot; Prasad said. Ridiculing Kumar for describing the profits earned by railways as &quot;mere jugglery of figures&quot;, Prasad said, &quot;Nitishji should be aware of the cash deposits being made by every zone of the railways in the Reserve Bank of India&quot;. &quot;The documents we produce in Parliament are transparent and nobody can mislead the House,&quot; he said. &quot;The huge profits the railways earned were because of sustained efforts by its employees and officials. We launched country-wide special drive to check the weight of goods transported by goods trains and the freight charges which were being clandestinely managed and manipulated by the consignees remarkably improved,&quot; he said. &quot;The financial management and other related system I have introduced will see the establishment growing day by day,&quot; Prasad said, adding the network of middlemen and mafias, which had virtually taken control, had been 'demolished' after he took over the charge of the ministry. On Kumar's jibe that Prasad be made 'a permanent railway minister' going by the latter's claims, Prasad said &quot;my jealous friend who failed to do anything for the railways now want me to leave my political base in Bihar&quot;. He said most of the political parties and organisations, besides the common people, had appreciated the Budget. On Bihar Deputy Chief Minister S. K. Modi, who dubbed the Budget as 'below expectations,' Prasad quipped, &quot;All below expectation people will see other's effort as below expectations&quot;. (PTI)