Cong takes rail route to regain UP

The Congress is preparing for a fight with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav while it seems to have given up the ghost of a fight in Kerala and West Bengal, the two other states to see assembly polls later this year. Indications of this are writ large on the Railway Budget.

The state of Uttar Pradesh alone sees at least 34 trains, out of which 20 are new trains, six are extensions of old trains while eight are trains whose frequencies have been increased. Of these, the Amethi-Rae Bareilly area and large parts of central Uttar Pradesh have received special attention.

Apart from trains, the proposed doubling of the Lucknow-Varanasi line via Rae Bareilly and Amethi is a significant step.

The message being given out is that central Uttar Pradesh has gained because of voting in two members of the Gandhi family, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi. Sonia Gandhi's touch is visible in this year's Railway Budget.

The states of Kerala and West Bengal, on the other hand, have not been shown any special favour despite the fact that they are facing elections. West Bengal, because of its proximity to Bihar, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav's state, has fared better than Kerala with 16 trains, out of which nine are new trains, while Kerala has only three trains to its kitty.

One state where the Congress does not have much of a chance, but has been showered by rail largess is Tamil Nadu, where UPA allies DMK, PMK and MDMK are to take on AIADMK's Jayalalithaa. A total of 10 new trains have been announced for Tamil Nadu, with seven trains which will be extended to various stations.

As a UP politician said on the sidelines of the Rail Budget, that "for the first time four cricketers from Uttar Pradesh have found a spot in the Indian Test team and so many new trains have come to UP, surely this calls for some political dividend!"