Rail budget a statement of illusion, says ex-railway minister Trivedi

Former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi on Thursday criticised the 2016-17 rail budget, saying it was a statement of illusion and that the government was misleading the nation.

"It is not a railway budget that Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has presented. It is just a statement of illusion by the minister," Trivedi told IANS.

"This government has misled the nation through this budget which has neither any vision nor any direction," the Trinamool Congress parliamentarian added.

He also dubbed Suresh Prabhu a "failed student", who had no courage to face parliament with detailed figures of the work done in the last one year.

"When a student fails in an examination, he never shares marks he scored in different subjects with his parents. Same is the case with Prabhu. He didn't give any figures on the works done in the last year. He didn't show us the results," Trivedi said.

He said the government had once again fooled the nation.

"Through this rail budget, they have fooled the nation again. In fact, it was in no way a railway budget. There were no figures. Only promises and big talk," Trivedi said.

Trivedi, who was forced to resign as railway minister days after he presented his railway budget, said that Prabhu had only wasted the time of parliament by presenting such a budget.

"The way this government has presented the budget, I think it should not be presented at all in future and time of parliament not be wasted," Trivedi said, adding that "I am not angry but disappointed".

Trivedi, currently the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on railways, was the railway minister from July 13, 2011, to March 18, 2012. He is presently a member of parliament from Barrackpore in West Bengal.