Ms Mamata Banerjee’s Railway Budget on Friday is expected to be her manifesto for the coming West Bengal Assembly election, in which her Trinamul Congress hopes to end the Left’s 34-year rule.
She is also likely to adhere to her populist agenda and not increase passenger fares, not hiked for the past seven years, despite railway earnings at an all-time low.
Sources said a big bonanza was expected for West Bengal, with new railway lines, new trains and increase in the frequency of existing trains.
Special packages are also being planned for other poll-going states, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam.
Ms Banerjee is expected to lay special emphasis on the Northeast as a whole, as her political advisers have suggested that she raise her profile in the eastern region as a whole.