Chhath Puja: Priyanka attacks BJP over rush in trains, accuses govt of destroying railways

New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday attacked the BJP government over the mismanagement by the railways in controlling the arbitrary fares, incident of accidents, delays and overcrowding at stations amid the Chhath festival.

She urged the Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to not make it a rhetoric of the rich but make the common people board the train with respect, trust and safety.

In a post on her WhatsApp channel, Priyanka Gandhi said: “In greed for money and publicity, the government has destroyed the railways. Arbitrary fare, one after another train accidents, delays, huge crowd at the railway stations and sheer mismanagement. And with all this complete carelessness, mismanagement and anarchy.”

She said that as the festival time is going on, and just now Diwali has passed and the festival of Chhath is going on. Many people are travelling back to their homes, but the railways is not able to give them even the assurance of life and property.

“Passengers are being robbed in the name of fare and special trains. People are entering the train through windows and are being stuffed into the coaches like luggage. In place of travel, the self-esteem of the citizen is being crushed to dust,” she said.

She said that the government spent huge money to facelift the buildings of selected stations while some new trains are being publicised in such a manner as if the Indian Railways has changed by some magic.

“Such a cry of hollow propaganda is rare in the history of the country. This is not a worship of India, but of greed and money, under the noise of which the plight, cries and screams of millions of Indian citizens during train journeys remain suppressed. The government does not want to see or hear this, the media does not want to show or tell it. A fake narrative is being built by showing some pictures and video are being dubbed as ‘Amritkaal’,” she said.

The Congress leader said, “Railway Minister Sir, worship ‘Amritkaal’. But don't make it a rhetoric of the rich. Make farmers, workers, labourers, women, children and the vast middle class of the country board the train with full respect, trust and safety. Indian Railways is the treasure of the general public. This is the real ‘Bharat Vandana’.”

Her remarks came amid the huge crowd at railway stations and in many of the express trains during the Chhath Puja festival.

Many people are unable to get a reserved ticket and while many are forced to travel while sleeping on the floor of the train. The railways has said that it is running 1,700 special trains to deal with the heavy rush and has created an additional 26 lakh berths.