Patna, June 28: The exit of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad from the railway ministry seems to have put a slew of projects announced by him for Bihar in limbo. State leaders fear the new minister, Mamata Banerjee, may shift some of these projects to her home state, West Bengal.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has warned of statewide agitations if the railway projects meant for Bihar are moved outside the state, Lalu has also expressed his displeasure.
Addressing a rally in Bhagalpur recently, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi said: “The government will oppose any move to relocate the railway projects.” His response came in the wake of reports that the railway ministry was planning to shift the proposed Rs 2,025- crore diesel locomotive factory at Chapra and a Rs 1,400-crore electric locomotive factory at Madhepura to West Bengal.
There were rumours that Banerjee had told railway board officials to review all pending projects of the ministry, including the two in Bihar, triggering speculation about their relocation.
The BJP, which is a part of the ruling coalition in the state, took the lead in cautioning Banerjee against any such move.
BJP’s state vice-president Rameshwar Chourasia asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to clarify his stand on the issue. He said Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had sought a special category status for Bihar and any move to withdraw the two mega railway projects would be detrimental to its economic growth.
Chourasia said the BJP legislators would send a petition to the prime minister to apprise him of the public sentiment on the issue. He said he would urge all National Democratic Alliance (NDA) MPs from Bihar to oppose the move.
Modi also blamed Lalu for not raising the issue with United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Lalu, however, had approached his successor to ascertain the veracity of the reports. He later said Banerjee had reassured him that there was no move to relocate the Chapra or Madhepura projects.
Lalu said officials of the railway board had also denied any such move.
During his tenure as railway minister, Lalu had brought projects worth Rs 55,000 crore to Bihar. These were expected to facilitate the rapid growth of the state in the next five years. He had set up a wheel factory worth Rs 1,417 crore and a DEMU maintenance depot worth Rs 15 crore at Sonepur, besides the locomotive factory at Marhaura, in his parliamentary constituency of Chapra. He had also gifted an electric locomotive factory to Madhepura, which had elected him to the Lok Sabha twice in the past.
These projects are believed to be the crowning glory of his tenure as railway minister.
Sources close to Lalu said he was not likely to take the withdrawal of these projects lying down. But as of now, the cudgels have been taken up by the BJP.
—Agencies