Title - Ahead of Nitish rally, boom time for transporters

Patna, Nov 1 (IANS) With Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) set to hold a massive rally here Sunday, it is raining money for the railways and private transporters. The party has booked four special trains and more than 8,000 buses to ferry supporters to Patna for the Nov 4 rally. JD-U state president Vasisht Narain Singh said leaders of his party were also hiring four-wheelers to transport people. "This time it is not free of cost. We are paying for everything," he said. An official of East Central Railway, headquartered at Hajipur near Patna, said the four trains had been booked for Rs.9 lakh each. "We will earn Rs.36 lakh from the rally," he said. According to JD-U sources, some party leaders have hired special trains from other railway zones including North Frontier Railway and Eastern Railway. Transporters are upbeat as there are no reports of forcible seizure of their vehicles for the rally. Another JD-U leader said that in the past transporters incurred losses as their buses were seized forcibly and parked at party offices or other places five to four days before the rally. The "Adhikar" rally is part of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's bid to put pressure on the central government to provide special status to Bihar for its speedy economic development. This is first time Nitish Kumar is holding a party rally in Patna after taking power in November 2005.