West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav got into an altercation on Saturday at the train accident site in Odisha’s Balasore district.
Citing her earlier statement on the accident, Banerjee said that the accident could have been avoided if the ‘Kavach’ anti-collision system was on the road, Banerjee said that the silence of the Union Railway Minister was suspicious
Expressing concern over Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav over the Odisha train accident, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said, “There is something black in the pulses.”
Banerjee, a two-time railway minister, on Saturday referred to her statement in which she had said that the accident could have been averted if the ‘Kavach’ anti-collision system was operational on the route. The silence of the Union Railway Minister was suspicious.
“When he (Railway Minister) was present with me yesterday, and I mentioned the anti-collision device, why did he not respond? ‘There is something black in the cast’. We want the truth to come out.
He accused the BJP-led government at the Center that new signaling systems and anti-collision devices were introduced during his tenure as Railway Minister.
Banerjee also questioned the death toll given by the Ministry of Railways and said that 61 people from her state were killed and 182 were still missing.
Meanwhile, the Odisha government revised the death toll to 275 from 288, and put the number of injured at 1,175.
Chief Secretary PK Jena said some bodies were counted twice. “After detailed verification and a report by the Balasore District Collector, the final toll has been fixed at 275,” he said.
The Bengal chief minister said the BJP forced her to address the matter and said: “It was being said by some sections that so many people were killed during my tenure and that of Nitish Kumar or Lalu Prasad Yadav.”
Attacking the Centre’s response to the Balasore incident, he raised the 2002 Godhra train burning incident in Gujarat.
He said, ‘Those (BJP-led central government) who can change history, can change any number. Instead of standing with the people, they are abusing me, Nitishji, Laluji…How did the moving train catch fire in Godhra (in 2002)?…So many people died, they should have at least apologized ‘, They said .
The BJP hit back and accused the Chief Minister of indulging in dirty politics and being “petty and vacillating” while the government is focused on providing relief and controlling the situation.
BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya said, “Mamata Banerjee’s rise in politics has been over dead bodies… From Singur to the post-2021 election violence, all she has done is indulge in the dirty politics of death and destruction.”
He accused them of “smothering” their efforts to “inflate” the casualties. “He is clearly disappointed after the Railway Minister thwarted his efforts to inflate the casualty count (in Balasore), that too in full media glare (besides being wrong on the facts in many cases when the rescue operation was underway) He had no means of addressing the media then) prompted him to lift the tragic train burning at Godhra, at a time when the Government of India is focused on providing relief and getting things back on track,” he said.
“But then she is Mamata Banerjee – petty and insolent,” he said.
The Coromandel Express collided with a stationary freight train at 7 pm on 2 June, resulting in the derailment of several of its coaches. Meanwhile, some coaches of the Bengaluru-Howrah Express passing through there came under the grip of collision. The investigative team is currently probing various factors, including possible human error, signal failure and other possible causes, that could have contributed to the three-train collision.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav announced that the Railway Board has recommended a CBI inquiry into the Balasore train accident.