The Budget session of the parliament begins today and first in the list is the Railway Budget, due tomorrow. With assembly elections around the corner in several states, Lalu Prasad Yadav is all set to present yet another people-friendly Railway Budget, reports CNBC-TV18.
If anybody knows how to make politics of the railway business, it is Laloo Yadav. He knows this is the politically most important year of his tenure, the country is gearing up for the next general election, so he's getting ready with a Budget which will make fares go down.
No - don't expect a fall in the AC-2 tier ticket prices, he can't be as generous especially when air fares have stabilized. But don't be surprised by a token one to two per cent fall in more middle-class AC-3 tier rates. And if there is going to be substantial 2 to 5 per cent sharp decline, it will be for general compartments. Lalu's political adverseries are already calling the Budget populist.
In fact Laloo knows that he can't really jazz up the railway ledger this year when the burden of the Sixth Pay Commission is going to rest on his shoulders. Railways after all is the biggest employer in the country. The finance ministry has asked him to set aside at least Rs 9,000 crore for the pay hike. But he is not passing on his wage bill to his clientele - the freight charges like last year will be rationalized, rates will be lowerered.
Laloo's economics is going down well with his customers. He is doing that by generating greater volume of business. And as far as his brand of regional politics is concerned, the Bihari babu is going to do a lot for his home state. Do expect at least four new railway lines in Bihar.