Sonia Gandhi mentioned Mamata Banerjee’s “hard work” and success in taking the railways to the country’s remotest corners.

The Trinamul Congress chief spoke of the Congress president’s dedication to the development of Uttar Pradesh, which she virtually identified with the Nehru-Gandhi family, and appeared to allude to Rahul Gandhi as “the future of the nation”.

The two UPA allies today showered praise on each other as they shared a dais near the old Kanpur railway station, flagging off 12 trains for the state.

Mamata said it was a historic day since so many trains had never been launched in the heartland state at one go.

“Uttar Pradesh has gifted a galaxy of national leaders,” Mamata said, reeling off names only from a single family: “Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and now Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, among others.”

At another point, without naming Rahul, she said: “In the coming years, a person who is from Uttar Pradesh will be the future of the nation.”

Mamata said the railway coach factory at Lalganj in Rae Bareli, Sonia’s constituency, would start production by October next year.

“Sonia Gandhi is concerned about the development of Uttar Pradesh and wants to see the state prominently on the railway map. We will work together to make this possible,” she added as Sonia clapped.

Sonia patted Mamata for the schemes she had launched across the country, fulfilling her budget promises. “From the remote areas of Kashmir to the Northeast, Mamata is taking the railway network to connect with the people.”

Mamata, who has made it possible for railway job seekers to write their exams in Urdu, said this was recognition for the role the language had played in shaping Indian culture. “Mandir masjid kuchh nahi; humlog to aman ki bat karte hain; aman aur pyaar ki bat kijiye (Forget the temple-mosque issue; let us talk about peace and love),” the railway minister said, before turning lyrical.

“I salute this auspicious soil of the state from Azamgarh to Gorakhpur, Allahabad to Ayodhya and Kanpur,” she said, drawing cheers from the crowd.

The two leaders flagged off the Kanpur-New Delhi Shatabdi Express from the nearby station and 11 other trains through remote control from various other stations.

Sonia spoke at length about the programmes the UPA government had implemented. “We reeled from the impact of the recession. Yet this never stood in the way of programme implementation by the UPA government,” she said.

“But the central and state governments should work together to keep up this work,” she added in a barely concealed dig at chief minister Mayavati.

Alluding to Mayavati’s absence from the Prime Minister’s meeting yesterday on inflation, Sonia said development could not pick up speed without the co-operation of state governments, which are the implementing agencies for most central schemes.

In response to Mayavati’s demand for funds, Sonia said: “We have been liberally releasing funds to all the states. Some states have done good work; others have failed to live up to expectations.”

Date : 08/02/2010. News by Newsofap.com