The tale of India, interwoven in the Railways, didn’t stop there. BJP members claimed that “Duronto” — a new scheme introduced by Mamata — meant “tragic” in Kannada, “which explained the larger tenor of the Budget”. Mamata’s deputy in the Ministry, K H Muniappa, tore apart the claim and said that “the BJP members had got their facts wrong” and the word was “Turanto, which had Sanskrit origins, and which meant fast”.

With MPs airing state-based grievances, former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, statesman-like on Tuesday, had the last word: “Lalu never discriminated against other states (during his tenure). I was also told about the discrimination against Bihar (in the present Budget). But it is not West Bengal, nor is it a Gujjar-like agitation (and therefore we didn’t take to the streets in Bihar). When Railway property is harmed, it is my body that burns. It is neither mine, nor yours. It is Indian Railways.”