Modi should sack Prabhu: Congress

“Railway safety in India is in a mess. Accidents, derailments and complete apathy to passenger safety have become the new normal in Modi government,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala. He said the Railway Ministry has failed to provide magerial leadership and so has the Railway Minister.

“Prabhu failed to provide leadership, roadmap or vision to railways. We had earlier demanded his resigtion. He (Prabhu) has today said on Twitter, instead of coming forward and facing the media, that he takes responsibility.”

“This responsibility business will not do. Either Prime Minister rendra Modi should sack Railway Minister or should accept his resigtion. It was time for PM to come forward and lay down a roadmap for safety of the Railways.” Pointing out that this is the second Railway Minister in three years, Surjewala asked: “Can only changing the Railway Minister change the focus on railway safety is an essential question.”. “It is putting a serious question mark on passenger safety and rail safety. About 1.42 lakh posts of rail safety and others are now lying vacant. The net consequence is passenger safety is being compromised, derailment, train accidents and loss of lives is becoming the new normal,” Surjewala added.

Earlier, party spokesperson Manish Tewari had urged Prabhu to take moral responsibility and resign. In the past three years, 28 such incidents have taken place, in which more than 259 people have died and more than 973 were injured, he had said. At least 74 persons were injured when 10 coaches of the Kaifiyat Express derailed in Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday morning. (IANS)