New Delhi: "Don't humiliate Bengal," Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said Wednesday when asked about the "increased share" given to her home state in the railway budget.
"Bengal will get their share, and other states will get their shares. I've not cut the shares of other states," Banerjee told reporters after presenting the budget.
Banerjee admitted that her sentiments were very much attached to the people of West Bengal. Assembly elections are to be held in West Bengal next year.
She also said her ministership should not be allowed to be a hindrance for West Bengal to get its due share. In the Lok Sabha too, Mamata faced the ire of the opposition for allocating more to her home state.
"If you shout, I will lay the speech," Mamata warned the MPs who were shouting while she presented the budget. "If you don't listen, I will cut (the allocation being made to their constituencies)," the minister threatened.
When some MPs protested for projects not being allocated to their constituencies, she said: "I am also a human being. I cannot satisfy all."
Besides the protests, Banerjee's speech was interjected for a few corrections too. The railway minister said "metric tonne" instead of "million tonne" during her speech but was immediately corrected by her cabinet colleagues Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.
She also apologised to MPs for not pronouncing the name of a few places correctly while announcing new projects and new train routes.
"Don't quarrel with me if the pronunciation is wrong," Mamata said.
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