Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav on Saturday strongly opposed privatisation in the Railways saying he would step down from the ministry if any such attempt was made.
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"The day the issue of privatisation of railways comes, I will step down from the ministry," Yadav, who is on an inspection tour of various stations by a special train, told reporters Gorakhpur, UP.
However, he clarified that privatisation was not the policy of the United Progressive Alliance government headed by Manmohan Singh.
"There is no such proposal before the government. Neither would there be," he said adding that had BJP continued in power, railways would have also gone private.
The Railway minister said he would keep the interest of the poor and common man while announcing the Railway Budget.
"We will keep in mind the pockets of the poor people when we present our Budget," he said.
Yadav said he has also directed his ministry to minimise the "extra" expenditure to raise resources.