Rahul Gandhi slams Rail budget, calls it vision less

New Delhi: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today slammed the railway budget, saying it lacks vision and offers nothing for the poor.

"It's a poor budget. Many states like Kerala and West Bengal have been left out," Gandhi told reporters in the Parliament building following the presentation of the railway budget by Rail Minister Sadananda Gowda. Kerala is a Congress-ruled state while West Bengal is ruled by Trinamool Congress, an erstwhile UPA ally.

Rahul Gandhi said there is "nothing for the poor" in the budget and that it is "unimaginative" and "lacks any strategic vision". The rail budget has come under a blistering attack from the opposition with Congress, Trinamool Congress and Left parties lambasting the government over the issues of FDI, privatisation and the PPP route.

Congress party too on Tuesday latched on to the Railway budget to claim there was a "capitalist" tilt to the functioning of the Narendra Modi government and that it was bent upon privatising the railways.

Looking to put the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) dispensation in the dock over railway budget 2014-15, Congress not only protested inside Parliament but also held an agitation outside the residence of Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda.

"(The NDA) government's direction for the country is diametrically opposite to that of the socialist path. Everything is being done to appease the capitalists. Social obligations of our (previous UPA) government have been criticised as if we'd committed a mistake in following them. We apprehend that the government is heading more and more towards privatisation," Congress MP and former Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told reporters at an All India Congress Committee (AICC) briefing.