By IANS
New Delhi : Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Tuesday surprised many as he readily acceded to a suggestion from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani to increase the frequency of a train.
Lalu Prasad, replying to a two-day debate in the Lok Sabha on the railway budget, took special note of requests from Advani and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and immediately heeded these.
While replying in the house, he received a slip of paper from Advani sitting right in front of him in the opposition benches. He announced: “The leader of opposition has requested me to increase the frequency of the Garib Rath. I immediately concede his demand.”
He also made a spontaneous announcement that Ahmedabad would be included in the list of stations to be upgraded to ‘world class’ standards.
Sources in the railway ministry said a request for this had been sent to him by Modi through a BJP MP from Gujarat.
Earlier, when another Gujarat BJP MP and former central minister Harin Pathak tried to criticise the railway budget during the debate, Lalu Prasad asked him to go back and ask the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) about it. He was referring to a commentary in the Organiser, the organ of the RSS, which had praised the railway budget.
When a BJP member asked him if he was going soft on RSS, Lalu Prasad said: “There are some good people and some bad people in the RSS too. Some good people from there are coming towards us. Now it is for you to think and decide.”