‘Rail Minister Has Some Kavach For Sure’: Opposition Slams Centre Over Train Accidents

Bhubaneswar: Opposition parties launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi-led NDA over the Howrah- Mumbai Mail train accident that claimed two lives and left 20 people injured on Tuesday morning.

Calling it a “disastrous rail accident”, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked, “Is this governance?

“This series of nightmares almost every week, this unending procession of deaths and injuries on railway tracks: for how long shall we tolerate this? Will there be no end to the callousness of Government of India?! My heart goes out to the bereaved families, condolences to the next of kin,” she posted on X.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav hit out at the government’s track record when it comes to rail safety. “It seems this government wants to create a record in train accidents. They had record number of paper leaks, and now railway accidents. This government is only making big claims on security and safety. People are losing their lives. The government should take some create steps to prevent such accidents,” he said.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh described Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw as ‘Fail Minister’. “Yet another railway accident. But the PR machine of the Fail Minister continues. In June and July 2024 alone, the Fail Minister has overseen three accidents that have cumulatively cost 17 Indians their lives and left 100s injured,” he wrote on X.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray also criticised Vaishnaw over multiple train accidents during his tenure. “I don’t know about the trains, but the minister for Railways has some “Kavach” for sure, because of which he hasn’t been sacked even after so many rail accidents in his tenure. Every week we see some accidents, and there’s no action taken. Instead, the Minister has been made the ‘political in- charge’ of BJP Maharashtra for the elections. Shouldn’t he be focusing on the Ministry?” he asked.

Notably, Rs. 1,113 crore has been allotted for Kavach out of the total amount of Rs. 262 lakh crore allocated for railways in the budget this year but the security system presently covers only a little over 2 per cent of the railways network across the country.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi further attacked Vaishnaw, calling him a “Reel minister,” and also criticised overcrowding in trains. “With several deaths and no accountability till date, I guess this also won’t have any impact. Announce compensation, promise enquiry and move on to another PR Instagram reel. Shameful apathy,” Chaturvedi posted on X.

Trinamool Congress leaders Sushmita Dev and Sagarika Ghose also accused the Railway Ministry of zero accountability.

Stating that ‘Part-time Railway Minister’ is too busy looking after BJP’s election management in Assembly poll-bound states to bother about the safety of passenger, Ghose asked: “How many more train accidents will it take for the Modi Government to wake up from its slumber?”

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) also slammed the Centre, urging the Railways Minister to focus on railways instead of making social media reels.