New Delhi, Jul 12 (IANS): The Lok Sabha on Thursday set a record by continuing with its proceedings for more than 12 hours to discuss the Demands for Grants for the Railway Ministry. The discussion ended two minutes before midnight.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday said the discussion went on till midnight because every member wanted to take part.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal was likely to reply to the debate on Friday afternoon, following which the Demands for Grants will be put to vote.

Joshi said it was the first time in nearly 18 years that the Lower House had sat this long. He said more than 100 members took part in the discussion. "Undoubtedly, it was a record."

During the debate, the opposition accused the Centre of selling the assets of Railways instead of developing the sector while the government argued that it had doubled the capital expenditure compared to the UPA rule.

The Congress, TMC, NCP, DMK and other opposition parties launched a scathing attack on the government, accusing it of attempting to "privatize" the railways and employing manual scavengers through contractors. The Bullet Train also came under attack.

Intervening, Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi told the Lok Sabha that a lot of developments had taken place under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi like making its functioning "apolitical".