Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday attacked the Narendra Modi Government for “gifting” Railway accidents “on weekly basis” in the name of development.
Hours after 18 coaches of Howrah-Mumbai Mail derailed in Seraikela-Kharsawan district of Jharkhand killing two persons and leaving about 20 injured, Banerjee said railway accidents had become a regular affair adding, the present Government was “producing high sounding nothings in the name of development.”
In a subsequent post on the X Banerjee wrote, “another disastrous rail accident! Howrah- Mumbai mail derails in Chakradharpur division in Jharkhand today early morning, multiple deaths and huge number of injuries is the tragic consequences.”
Banerjee who had before assuming the Chief Ministership of Bengal in 2011 been the Railway Minister on several occasions said, “I seriously ask: 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?”
Another Trinamool Congress and Bengal minister Firhad Hakim too slammed the Centre and the Indian Railways for investing only in Gujarat and nowhere else. “This is the third or fourth accident in a matter of a few weeks … whose fault is this … the people purchase tickets not to die but to reach their destinations safely ... lakhs of posts have been left vacant by the Indian Railways … more so in the department of safety … and the people are dying like animals,” he said.
The BJP was quick to react wondering how many accidents occurred when Banerjee was at the helm of affairs. “I can count half-a-dozen accidents when Mamata Banerjee was the Railway Minister … there were accidents at Sainthia, Banstala and many other places in which many people died … whom will the TMC blame for those accidents,” asked State BJP leader Pranoy Roy.
The Left on the other hand blamed the “anti-people” and “pro-rich” policy of the BJP Government for the recent spate of accidents. “This Government is planning to sell off the Indian Railways to private companies which is why it is making it economically viable by not appointing people … and the people are dying in the process … life of the common man has no value for this Government,” said Sujan Chakrabarty CPI(M) central committee member.
The accident occurred at in the wee hours of Tuesday near Barabamboo, around 80 km from Jamshedpur, under Chakradharpur Division of the South Eastern Railway.
