“Lalu’s tenure as Railway Minister would be remembered in history as the golden period of the Railways... but the last portion of the (Railway) budget speech is being misinterpreted... I demand a House committee to go into it. There are officers to verify the figures (of the past five years)... Do it in next seven days,” Lalu said while speaking in the Lok Sabha during a discussion on the Railway Budget.

While Lalu refrained from attacking either the Congress or Mamata on Tuesday, saying her statement on White Paper was “misinterpreted”, it was welcomed by the BJP and JD(U). They accused that as railway minister, Lalu had indulged in “accounting jugglery” to inflate performance.

That Lalu remains hopeful of rebuilding bridges with the Congress was evident even on Monday when he approached Congress president Sonia Gandhi after the presentation of the General Budget. However, even as he stood near her for a while, Sonia looked the other way, forcing Lalu to greet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and make a quiet exit.

On Tuesday, the Congress dealt him another snub when it denied charges that Mamata was “belittling her predecessor” with her White Paper plan. “Your question is on the assumption that the White Paper will go in a certain direction. If the Railway Minister’s move increases transparency, I don't think there is anything wrong,” AICC spokesman Manish Tewari said.

Lalu, for his part, sought a House committee probe quickly to clear the “confusion”. “As the railway minister the UPA had given me a free hand... The Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi allowed me to work freely... I got so busy with the Railways that I lost touch with people... If I had fudged the figures, I am ready to apologise...” While careful not to attack the Congress or Mamata, the RJD chief suggested that it was his rival in Bihar and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar who was behind the White Paper idea.

“Those who were not pleased to see me at Rail Bhavan... (they) are misinterpreting the last part of the budget... They can't get over Lalu phobia... He who has failed (to bring a turnaround in the Railways) is telephoning for a White Paper,” Lalu said.

Speaking during the discussion, BJP leader Ananth Kumar accused Mamata of “having a version of speech that she had uploaded on the website but later not included in her speech”. He said that Mamata admitted this.

Earlier, Mamata assured JD(U) MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lallan’ that she would look into scams alleged by him in Lalu’s tenure. In contrast, she made no attempt to allay Lalu’s fears. “I respect you,” was the maximum she said.