New Delhi: Opposition on February 26 dubbed the Railway Budget 2003-04 as election- oriented, soft and populist, which will lead to stagnation of the Railways, even as it charged government with discriminating against some regions.

"It is a soft election Budget with nothing inspiring. It will not help in expanding the Railways and making it more efficient," Congress leader Shivraj Patil said.

His party colleague P R Dasmunsi said, "Government will bring another supplementary Budget to hike the fares as they had done last year."

Stating that Railways was on a "backtrack" as far as freight was concerned, he said the passenger traffic had declined by three per cent primarily due to lack of safety and security. He also criticised the Railway Minister for not paying tributes to those killed in rail accidents during the year.

Former Railway Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said there was nothing striking in the Budget and added neglect of rural areas was disappointing.

Communist party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader V Radhakrishnan described it as a highly discriminating Budget and said it has not paid heed to regional demands, particularly from the South.

P H Pandian of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) said the government has not cleared any new projects for Tamil Nadu despite demands from the state.

Mulayam Singh Yadav, Samajwadi Party, described the Budget as "sweet and sour", saying though certain schemes had been announced for safety and security, there was no mention of laying of new railway lines.

Members of Parliament (MPs) from Bihar, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Rashtreeya Janata Dal (RJD), and Subodh Roy (CPI-M), described the Budget as a "betrayal" of the people's aspirations.

BJP described the Budget as the "best in the last 50 years as never before so many concessions have been offered".

Criticising the Opposition for always finding fault with any "good measures" of the government, party spokesman V K Malhotra said, "When concessions are offered, the Opposition seeks to run it down. They should be appreciating the Budget rather than just calling it populist."

Rashid Alvi (Bahujan Samaj Party) said though it was a good Budget, yet more attention should have been paid to security aspect especially in view of large number of accidents.

PTI