'Mamata hijacked rail ministry to serve political ends'

AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa today charged Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee with hijacking the Ministry to "serve local political ends" and alleged that she had presented the Railway budget keeping the upcoming West Bengal Assembly polls in mind.

"Mamata Banerjee has predictably presented the budget keeping elections in her home state in mind. She has announced major projects for Nandigram and Singur where she had launched a successful political battle some years ago," Jayalalithaa said in a statement here.

The AIADMK supremo, with whom the CPI-M has allied in Tamil Nadu for the coming Assembly elections, said her state had "nothing much to exult about" but for a few suburban trains and a couple of Duronto Expresses, as no new trains had been announced.

"The overwhelming impression that a national resource has been hijacked by the Minister to serve her local political ends cannot be dispelled or denied," she said.

Jayalalithaa said while there was no hike in ticket fares, a lot of projects announced last year were yet to be implemented, which she described as an "uninspiring track record" of Banerjee.

"The Railways' finances are in the doldrums. Nothing imaginative has been done to raise additional revenue. This will inflict huge damage on the national economy and push the largest Railways network to the brink," she added.