Another UPA ally DMK against rail fare hike

The demand for partial rollback of the hike in the freight and passenger fare in the Railway Budget gained momentum today with key UPA constituent DMK making a pitch for the reconsideration of the decision.

Participating in the discussion on the Railway Budget, DMK member EG Sugavanam asked the government to "reconsider" the decision to increase the passenger fare hike that is around 35%.

Demanding a "scaledown" of the rail passenger hike, he said it was essential to reduce the burden on common man.

Trinamool Congress has effected a change of guard by bringing in Mukul Roy as Railway Minister, unhappy over the proposal for a passenger fare hike by its nominee Dinesh Trivedi who presented the Railway Budget.

PC Chacko, who opened innings on behalf of the Congress, also noted that there could be a partial rollback insisting at the same time that the hike could not be considered reasonable given the financial position of the railways.

Ramachandra Dome (CPI-M) also demanded a rollback of the passenger fare hike.

Opposing the proposal to increase the freight charges, he said it will have an "inflationary and cascading impact" on the economy.