Poll-bound states under BJP see highest rise in rail budget

Allocations for states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan which are slated to go to polls later this year have risen by 906 per cent, 1,173 per cent and 567 per cent respectively.

In fact, Uttarakhand, which the BJP won by a landslide last year, is the only state to be in the same growth bracket with its allocation rising by 695 per cent. The state, which is mostly hilly, has been allotted Rs 1,490 crore The figures from the transport behemoth highlight how most states have gained after the NDA came to power in 2014.

Uttarakhand is followed by UP, another BJP ruled state which has seen a whopping 567 per cent increase in allocation.

Other BJP states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have also registered growth of over 400 per cent each.

Madhya Pradesh, which goes to polls later this year has been allocated Rs 6,359 crore, a jump of 906 per cent as compared to average allocations during 2009-2014.

The state's outlay has gone up from Rs 566 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 1,490 crore this year.

However, allocations for non-BJP states like West Bengal, Kerela and Delhi have registered much lesser growth since the BJP's ascent into power.

While West Bengal's allocations have grown only by 24 per cent, allocation for Kerela grew by 148 per cent and Delhi's allocation by 180 per cent.

Compared to last year, the allocations for West Bengal, Kerela and Delhi saw a dip by 14 per cent, 23 per cent and 40 per cent respectively.