RLD seeks rail electrification between Barabanki, Jaunpur

LUCKNOW: The Rashtriya Lok Dal shifted its focus to east UP on Thursday, when party chief Ajit Singh and his son Jayant Chaudhary lobbied hard for doubling and electrification of railway tracks between Barabanki and Jaunpur.
Known to campaign hard in west UP, the two leaders met railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal seeking inclusion of the projects in the 2013 Railway Budget. The rail route passes through Faizabad, from where party's present state president and former irrigation minister Munna Singh Chauhan unsuccessfully contested UP assembly elections.The stretch happens to be a crucial link between central and east UP.
At the same time, RLD leaders also demanded electrification of rail routes in west UP as well. The routes, which came on RLD agenda included the one between Amroha and Sambhal, Bulandshahr and Chola, Meerut and Bijnor, Mathura and Aligarh via Raya, Mant (from where Jayant contested UP assembly elections), Sureel, Naujheel and Bajna. The party also sought electrification of the route between Delhi and Saharanpur via Shadra, Baghpat, and Shamli.
Chaudhary claimed the railway minister has assured them of getting the stretches surveyed and allocating a budget for the project. He said that this will set pace for development of the state in the long run. Earlier, the two RLD leaders have been pressing for various development projects, including an airport, in west UP.