Train fare hike: RSS taken aback by the timing of the decision; says will not interfere as Narendra Modi has a vision

NEW DELHI: Tough economic decisions are never really politically palatable, the across-the-board hike in railway fares has been one such decision. While the BJP has been supportive of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party and the larger Sangh Parivar, including the RSS, have been taken aback by the timing of the decision. According to top sources in the RSS, there has been a bit of a worry over the blowback of this decision on the government, though the basic premise of it has been unquestioned.

“Nobody can deny that rail fares, frozen for the last 11 years, needed rationalisation and they were bound to increase. The only issue that we have with this is the timing and manner of the decision,” said a top office bearer of the RSS. “The people should have been prepared for this decision, which is in the country’s interest, but cannot be palatable to the general public,” added the source.

After the initial shock of the decision, however, BJP men have been quick to defend the hike in the face of the opposition’s ire. “The decision was necessary for the preservation of the Railways,” said senior party spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. The Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM) which has not exactly been on the same page as previous NDA governments on neo-liberal economic agendas, has, however, also completely backed the fare hike.

Economist Ashwini Mahajan who is associated with the SJM made it clear that something like this was “required” to rescue Indian Railways. “It is the pride of India, and if you compare fares in India to other countries it is still very low. Fares had not risen in 11 years whereas fuel costs, wear and tear and modernisation costs had gone up exponentially. Was there really a way out?” he said to ET.

Mahajan said that if the Indian Railways has to remain a national resource, its financial health has to be protected. “A few more years of the previous state would have forced a privatisation, do we really want that?” he said. The RSS in fact has reportedly decided to give a very wide berth to the BJP led government on policy issues. “We are aware that Modi has not come into the PMO “khaali haath” (empty handed). He has a vision, and we are waiting for some economic recovery to emanate from this. We are not looking to interfere or second guess him,” added the source.