New Delhi:
The Mamata Express has one destination: West Bengal.
With her home state two months away from elections, Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee pulled out all the stops, gifting Bengal new train services in Kolkata and a slew of projects that include an industrial park at Nandigram and a metro coach factory at Singur. Over the last few years, Bengal politics have centred largely on Singur and Nandigram - so there's little confusion about who Ms Banerjee is trying to woo.
As she delivered the railway budget in Parliament, the Opposition protested loudly each time she read out a Bengal-friendly feature. Ms Banerjee- known for her short temper - finally turned to formal Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and said, "I am proud of my state."
She then asked, "What did you do, Lalu ji? You did so much for Bihar. Why shout now?"
Later, the CPI(M), which is currently in power in Bengal, charged Ms Banerjee with fantasy math.
The Railways show a net deficit of Rs 3,500 crores, but Ms Banerjee's budget projects that in the next 12 months, the revenue will cross Rs 1 lakh crores. The Railways earned Rs 86,644 crore in the last fiscal.
"They (the Government) have done the unthinkable of turning Railways bankrupt," said the Left's Sitaram Yechury.
Ms Banerjee had a ready response. "Their government (in West Bengal) is bankrupt. It has Rs. two lakh crore debt. Charity begins at home."
But it wasn't just the predictable war of words with the Left that hinged on Ms Banerjee's come-hither bias for Bengal voters.
In the South, Jayalalithaa, chief of the AIADMK, accused the minister of hijacking a national resource "to serve local political ends".
(Read: Mamata has 'hijacked' rail ministry, says Jayalalithaa)