Odisha train accident: Cong demands Railway Minister's resignation

On Sunday Congress demanded the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw over the Odisha train tragedy alleging that his PR gimmicks overshadowed the serious deficiencies criminal negligence and complete disregard for safety and security of Indian Railways reported PTIThe Congress party also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should accept part of the responsibility of the mess which his government has inflicted on the Indian Railways and the peopleAs per PTI report addressing a press conference Congress MP Shaktisinh Gohil and AICCs publicity and media department head Pawan Khera alleged that the Odisha rail tragedy was a manmade devastation caused by utter negligence serious lapses in the system incompetence and a narcissistic sense of knowitall attitude of the Modi government Prime Minister Modi who has announced that the guilty would be punished must first start with his Railway Minister Khera saidUnequivocally and unambiguously we demand the resignation of the Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Nothing short of it PTI quoted Kera as sayingEarlier Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that railway safety had been compromised in the PR campaign of the prime minister and the railway minister Recall that Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned in the wake of the Nov 1956 Ariyalur train disaster amp Nitish Kumar did so following the ghastly Aug 1999 Gaisal train tragedy he said in a tweetAt the presser Gohil and Khera posed questions to the government and asked when will PM Modi demand the resignation from his Railway Minister VaishnawThey alleged that Vaishnaws over the top publicity theatrics and PR gimmicks overshadowed the serious deficiencies criminal negligence and complete disregard for safety and security of Indian RailwaysPM Modi himself is responsible for a greenflagging spree of Vande Bharat Express trains He himself is responsible for creating this all is well facade in the Indian Railways even as crucial sensitive and critical infrastructure of the Indian Railway languishes in neglect Gohil and Khera said in their statementWe demand that despite multiple warnings by the CAG Parliamentary Standing Committees and experts why did the Modi government not spend on sprucing up Railway Safety they saidWho is responsible for the deadliest rail tragedy in independent India Gohil and Khera asked Would only lower or midlevel functionaries bear the brunt of accountability or will the executive who takes all the credit for Vande Bharat trains also be held accountable for this brazen disregard for safety standards they askedThe Congress leaders also asked when will the Modi government implement the muchhyped KAVACH AntiCollision system nationwide after testing Gohil and Khera asked when will the government pump more funds in the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh RRSK and fill up the three lakh plus vacant positions in the Indian RailwaysThe crash involving BengaluruHowrah Superfast Express and ShalimarChennai Central Coromandel Express which were carrying around 2500 passengers and a goods train occurred around 7 pm on Friday near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore At least 288 people were dead and over 1100 injured in the accidentWith inputs from PTI