Rail budget has cheated Uttarakhand: Congress

DEHRADUN: Terming the rail budget presented by minister Suresh Prabhu as a "sugar-coated" budget in which the Himalayan state had been "completely" ignored, the Uttarakhand unit of the Congress slammed the Narendra Modi-led government over the issue. Congress members gathered outside the Dehradun railway station on Thursday evening and set ablaze the effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and railway minister Suresh Prabhu.Taking a swipe at the BJP-led government at the Centre, Congress state chief Kishore Upadhyay told TOI, "The ignorance in the rail budget comes as no surprise to us as once again, the NDA government has meted out a stepbrotherly treatment to Uttarakhand.” He pointed out that earlier the BJP had made “tall claims” to connect the char dham route with rail. “However, it turned out to be a damp squib as no such declaration was made in the rail budget,” said Upadhyay.The Congress leader maintained that the state was optimistic of approval of a new rail route, but it too proved a dream. "Few days ago, BJP state chief Ajay Bhatt has said that he and the five BJP MPs were working on lines to get justice done to Uttarakhand in the rail budget. Is this justice? People need an answer from him,” said Upadhyay.Meanwhile, Congressmen in large numbers gathered outside the Dehradun railway station and set ablaze the effigies of Modi and Prabhu. On the occasion, Congress Dehradun chief Prithviraj Chauhan demanded the five BJP Lok Sabha MPs of Uttarakhand to resign on moral grounds. “They do not deserve to represent the people when they cannot raise the voice of people. In the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, people showed faith in BJP and all five seats went to the party, but the elected candidates have failed to live up to the expectations of people,” added Chauhan.Commenting on similar lines, Congress state spokesman Mathura Dutt Joshi said that people had pinned high hopes on the NDA government. "Dehradun has a poor rail connectivity with New Delhi and state capitals. People were eagerly looking forward for introduction of trains which could improve the connectivity but all the hopes have dashed," said Joshi.