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West Bengal Politics

TMC's Derek O' Brien slams Centre for massive railway funds for Bengal ahead of assembly elections

India Blooms News Service | @indiablooms | Feb 07, 2021, at 11:22 pm

#WestBengal #BJP #TMC #DerekOBrien #RailwayBudget #PiyushGoyal #RailwayBudget

Kolkta/IBNS: The Trinamool Congress today slammed BJP and its supporters for boasting of a railway budget for West Bengal which doesn't take into account projects shelved over the years and the funding stopped by the Centre and accused the allocation was just an eye wash ahead of the assembly elections.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has said Rs 6,636 crore fund is the highest ever allocated for the state in the history of the Indian Railways. "It is 2.5 times the average amount allocated between Budget 2009-2014 and 26 per cent more than last year," he told reporters on Thursday and also tweeted about it a day earlier, reported NDTV.

Allocation of Railway Budget for Andhra Pradesh for the year 2021-22, for building world-class rail infrastructure. #AatmanirbharBharatKaBudget pic.twitter.com/uMgR6TWMH7
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) February 3, 2021

However, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien said West Bengal was deprived of funds and several projects ahead of its projects were put in the deep freezer. Referring to the Budget he pointed out that no new lines were announced in South-Eastern Railways, let alone Bengal in 2016-17 to 2020-21.

"In election season, BJP’s tourist gang are touting "record Railway allocation" for Bengal. The truth is, multiple rail projects have been shelved in Bengal and funding choked all these years," he tweeted and listed how the state has been deprived of funds over the years.

In election season, BJP’s tourist gang are touting "record Railway allocation" for Bengal. The truth is, multiple rail projects have been shelved in Bengal and funding choked all these years.

The facts here👇

How Bengal has been deprived of Railways funds for years pic.twitter.com/fGd26XCZgH
— Derek O'Brien | ডেরেক ও'ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) February 7, 2021

The Trinamool leader pointed out that a dozen projects launched for West Bengal by Mamata Banerjee when she was the Railway Minister have received only "token financial allocation" in this year's budget.

"The Centre decided to shelve 20 new connectivity ventures and 10 upgradation projects launched by Mamata Banerjee as Minister of Railway, especially in rural Bengal," he said pointing to Budget 2020.

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