"Everything back to normalcy after 51 hours": Hardeep S Puri defends Railways Minister

Backing Railways Minister Aswini Vaishnaw, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that Vaishnaw was successfully able to restore everything within just 51 hours.

Jammu: Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri took a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for demanding the resignation of the Union Railways Minister following the Odisha train tragedy. Puri stated on Monday that the Railways Minister had spent several hours reviewing the accident site and successfully restored everything within a span of just 51 hours.

"Statements that Rahul Gandhi makes in and outside the country, often leave me baffled and worried. I reminded him about the Nellie Massacre as well...PM Modi went to visit that place. Three Union Ministers were also there. And everything went back within 51 hours. The person to whom Rahul Gandhi is asking to resign is at the tragedy site for hours," Puri said.

A tragic three-way collision involving two passenger trains and a freight train in Odisha on Friday resulted in the deaths of at least 275 people and more than 1,100 injuries. The accident occurred when the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express entered a track where a goods train was halted and collided with it, causing several coaches to veer onto the opposite track.

The Howrah Express, travelling from Yesvantpur to Howrah, then struck the carriages at high speed, resulting in derailment. Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that the Prime Minister should immediately seek the resignation of Ashwini Vaishnaw for the tragic train accident in Odisha's Balasore. The Congress leader stepped up the attack on the Central government stating that till now "no accountability even after 270+ deaths".

"No accountability even after 270+ deaths! The Modi government cannot run away from taking responsibility for such a painful accident. The Prime Minister should immediately seek the resignation of the Railway Minister!" Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet. Several Opposition leaders have been asking for Union Railways Minister's resignation.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government over the Odisha train accident, stating that 'Dal mein kuch kaala hai', we want the truth to come out". "When yesterday he (Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw) was present with me and I mentioned about anti-collision device, why didn't he open his mouth? 'Dal mein kuch kaala hai', we want the truth to come out," Mamata said while responding to a question about the interlocking system.

Congress leader Digvijay Singh also demanded Vaishnaw's resignation citing the example of Lal Bahadur Shashtri who had tendered his resignation after a train accident during his tenure as minister for railways.

"When Railways Minister repeatedly says that our system is fool-proof and any severe accident cannot happen then how this happened... He (Ashwini Vaishnaw) is an ex-IAS officer of the Odisha cadre, where this tragedy has taken place. There is an example where in such a train accident, Lal Bahadur Shastri had resigned from his post," said Digvijaya Singh on Saturday.

"We don't expect this from PM Modi's cabinet, but if he (Ashwini Vaishnaw) has a little bit of shame, he should resign," the Congress leader said. Earlier Congress leader and former chief minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan also demanded the Railway Minister's resignation."We demand the resignation of the Railway Minister, he should offer voluntary resignation and follow the tradition of Lal Bahadur Shastri," Chavan said.

He said that the report of the inquiry should be made public. "According to the initial information, it is a signal failure and such incidents have never happened before. It is a very unfortunate accident and the inquiry must be public...there has to be a discussion on such accidents," Chavan said. (ANI)