When will the Govt come to their senses: Mamata on Gonda rail accident

Kolkata: Following the rail accident involving the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit out at the Modi-led Centre questioning “when will the Government come to their senses”.

Till the filing of the report, about 2 persons were killed and several were reported injured after the express train derailed near Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda on Thursday afternoon. This mishap follows the June rail accident in North Bengal that took the lives of about 10 people and left scores injured.

Highlighting that the safety of the passengers is of utmost importance, Banerjee offered her condolences to the bereaved families.

Talking to X on Thursday evening, Banerjee said: “Sad to know of yet another tragic rail accident today, at Gonda, UP! Another train derailment, this time of Chandigarh- Dibrugarh Express! What are the railway authorities doing!! What is the Government of India doing !! Safety and security of passengers are paramount !! When will the Government come to their senses!!

My condolences to the bereaved families, prayers for the injured.”

At least six bogies of the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express derailed on Thursday afternoon leaving several injured. The incident raises serious questions over the continuous collapse of railway infrastructure costing human lives.

Since BJP came to power in 2014, there have been 11 major train accidents leaving hundreds dead. Banerjee had earlier spoken out against the Railway fare hike, lack of passenger amenities, negligence towards Railway employees, and the missing Railway Budget among other issues.

Several Trinamool MPs, on Thursday, also took to their social media to question the NDA government over its silence on the accident and demanded the Railway minister’s resignation. Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra also called out Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and posted: “Another derailment in UP. Shame @AshwiniVaishnaw - Indian Railways in Emergency room after 10 years of Jumla Sarkar. Kavach anti-collision should be installed immediately on all routes in India. Total cost of only Rs 63,000 crores vs Rs 1,08,000 crores for Mum Ahmd bullet train.”

“Literally EVERY week, there’s a railway tragedy & people lose their lives. Everyday there are videos on social media of people struggling in over-crowded trains. In ANY other functional govt, Rail Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw would’ve been sacked. It’s mysterious as to why he’s not only kept in charge of the rail ministry but also rewarded with an extra cabinet berth by Modi,” posted Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale.

MP Sushmita Dev added: “Another train derailment. This time the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express! Indian Railways, which is the primary mode of travel for crores of common people, is NO MORE safe! My condolences to the bereaved and thoughts are with the injured. Union Railway Minister, Ashwini Vaishnav — the blue-eyed boy of @PMOIndia is costing us lives!”

Party MP Sagarika Ghose in a post on X said: “ANOTHER train accident. Accountability? Fixing responsibility? Thorough investigation on safety failures? Nope, for the non-biological prime minister @narendramodi let’s take more selfies with world leaders instead.”.