Rail fare hike was 'compulsion': Paswan

He defended saying govt is not fond of hiking fares

Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan today defended the steep rail fare hike effected by the Centre last week, saying it was a "compulsion" as no government wants to increase fares.

Justifying the hike, the Consumer Affairs Minister recalled the rationale offered by former prime minister V P Singh for petrol price hike, that it was better to run your vehicle with costlier petrol than not being able to run the vehicle at all. Paswan was a minister in Singh's government.

"What do you do when water starts flowing above your head? We are not fond of hiking fares. It was a decision the previous UPA government had already taken. They had suspended it and we executed it," he told reporters during the National Executive meeting of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) here.

The Narendra Modi government had last week increased the rail passenger fare by over 14 percent across all segments, inviting sharp criticism from opposition parties and even ally Shiv Sena.

During the meeting, LJP showered praise on Modi for inducting Paswan and other allies in the Union ministry despite BJP having a majority on its own.

"Modi fulfilled the coalition dharma. We thank him again and again," Paswan said, adding that this Lok Sabha elections were different as people rose above caste, religious and regional identities to vote for BJP-led NDA.

Reaching out to Muslims, who are seen to be wary of NDA, he said they are being "misled" by Congress and other so-called secular parties. "You will see an era of peace and development never seen earlier under any regime."

Paswan also attacked former Bihar chief ministers Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad over their likely alliance to take on the NDA in the state and said it was like snakes and scorpions taking shelter over the same tree in flood.

"Their support base is hostile to each other. They were sworn enemies. They are now coming together to survive. It won't make a difference to the flood of NDA in Bihar. We expect elections in there by year-end and will sweep the polls," he said.