New Delhi: Lashing out at the opposition, BJP told them not to indulge in mud-slinging in the Balasore train mishap and pointed out that the track record of the Congress-led UPA government's Railway Ministers' was nothing short of a disaster. BJP IT department head Amit Malviya shared on Twitter what he said were the details of accidents under these ministers and added such "worthies" are the ones demanding the resignation of the "most qualified" Railway Minister the country has had in seven and half decades.
Earlier, gunning for the scalp of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Congress hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating he should accept part of the responsibility for creating an all-is-well facade even as the critical infrastructure of the Indian Railways "languishes in neglect". Hitting back, Malviya said, "The track record of Railway Ministers, under the UPA, was nothing short of a disaster. Let us focus on relief and rescue operation and putting life and rail back on track."
During the tenure of Mamata Banerjee as the Railway Minister, 1,451 people died in 54 cases of collisions and 839 incidents of train derailments, he reminded. The death toll was 1,159 when Lalu Prasad Yadav was at the helm while the corresponding figure for Nitish Kumar was 1,527. Yadav was the minister in the first term of the UPA government while Kumar was at the helm during the NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This is the report card of those demanding resignation, Malviya pointed out.
West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee was vocal in flaying the government over the accident. Malviya alleged, "Mamata's rise in politics has been over dead bodies. From Singur to the post-poll violence of 2021, all she has done is - indulged in dirty politics of death and destruction." He posted a video in which Vaishnaw is seen clarifying to her on the accident site on Saturday after she suggested that the death toll could be as high as 500. That is Mamata Banerjee - petty and petulant," Malviya said.
Malviya stated the Indian Railways has taken several steps for passengers' safety in the past few years. This includes record work for maintenance and renewal of tracks while all unmanned level crossings on the broad gauge route have been eliminated. The installation of the Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) or 'Kavach' on the railway routes is proceeding quickly, he said, citing other measures as well. The Railway Board has recommended a CBI probe into the Balasore train accident.
