On June 4 (local time) disqualified MP and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sought the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw over ‘moral grounds’. He claimed that he remembered how the then-Congress Railway Minister took responsibility for the train accident and resigned from the post. During his address to the Indian diaspora in New York, he said, “I remember a train accident when the Congress party was in power. Congress did not get up and say that the train crashed because of the fault of the British. Congress minister said, “It’s my responsibility the train has crashed and I’m resigning”. So this is the problem we have back home we make excuses and not accepting the reality we are faced with.” He somehow connected it to “unemployment” among the youth.
#WATCH | I remember a train accident when the Congress party was in power. Congress did not get up and say that the train crashed because of the fault of the British. Congress minister said, "It's my responsibility and I'm resigning". So this is the problem we have back home, we… pic.twitter.com/2KrMxGYj1k
— ANI (@ANI) June 4, 2023
Looking back at the history of train accidents and how then-railway ministers reacted to them, Rahul Gandhi appeared to be grossly uninformed. The only Congress minister who resigned after a train accident was then-Railway Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri who resigned from the post in November 1956 following the Ariyalur train accident in Tamil Nadu that claimed 142 lives.
In August 1999, then-Railway Minister Nitish Kumar resigned from the post following the Gaisal train accident in Assam that claimed at least 290 lives. In 2000, then-Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee resigned from the post following two train accidents in one year. However, then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee rejected her resignation. It is pertinent to note, however, that Mamata Banerjee had not resigned because of the railway accidents. She had resigned purely for political reasons. Mamata Banerjee had, in 2000, tendered her resignation 2 times in 2 months, 1 for rising oil prices and once supposedly taking moral responsibility for train mishaps. Given her previous resignation, it may be theorised that she wanted to quit the cabinet for political reasons and the train mishaps were merely an excuse to do so.
In August 2017, then-Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu offered his resignation after two back-to-back derailments in just four days. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him to wait. Prabhu stepped down from the post the next month.
All three resignations came during the time when NDA was in power. Nitish Kumar and Mamata Banerjee were Railway Ministers during then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure and at the time of Suresh Prabhu’s resignation, Narendra Modi was the Prime Minister.
Facts about train mishaps and Congress’ legacy
The Modi government has interestingly done exceptionally well as far as train safety is concerned. A consolidated picture of the number of train accidents and the number of people dead in such accidents shows that mishaps have reduced significantly under the Modi government.
As one can see, the track record under the Modi government has only increased. The maximum number of people who died or got injured before the Balasore incident was in the year 95-96, 97-2000, 2001-2003, 2011-2012. In 1995, the PM of the country of PV Narasimha Rao, from 97-2000, the PMs were HD Deve Gowda, IK Gujaral and marginally in 2000, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and in 2011-2012, it was PM Manmohan Singh.
There were 5 notable railways accidents from 2010 to 2012 – Jnaneswari Express in 2010, Uttar Banga Express and Vananchal Express in 2010, Chhapra-Mathura Express in 2011, Hubli-Banglore Hampi Express in 2012 and Tamil Nadu Express in 2012. All of these took place under the Congress government at the centre and no railways minister resigned for them.
In fact, during UPA-I and UPA-II over 1300 train accidents took place but none of the Congress’s leaders serving as Railway Ministers or leaders of their ally parties serving as Railway Ministers offered resignation.
Therefore, Rahul Gandhi is factually inaccurate when he says that Railways Ministers resigned during the Congress government.
Ashwini Vaishnaw qualified and did his job
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is highly qualified for the job and he has done exceptionally well in the time of distress. Within hours of the accident, Vaishnaw was at the accident site and he has not left the site since then. Having the minister in charge at the site worked in favour of getting tracks functioning quickly.
Vaishnaw is updating the progress as it comes on social media to ensure all the stakeholders and the general public are aware of the progress. The investigation into the matter is underway and the cause of the accident has already been determined.
Seeking resignation only serves the political desires of the opposition. A minister under which the tragedy has happened and who is qualified to the job should not resign. It is his duty and moral obligation towards the people of the country that he finds the reason behind the mishap and fixes it. A responsible minister or leader will never run from his or her duties and should not step down without fixing the problem behind the mishap that occurred during his or her tenure. In the case of the Odisha Train Accident, Vaishnaw has clearly taken responsibility and taken matters into his hands to get things back on track.
Rahul Gandhi must do what he preaches
In another statement, Rahul Gandhi has insinuated that the Congress party does not look at the past and concentrates on the job. As preached, Gandhi should not go back to the 50s and use the resignation of then-Railway Minister Shastri to play politics in 2023. At the time of a tragedy, all leaders should have come on the same platform and worked together to provide relief to the victims. Making accusations and creating hurdles in the government’s work only adds to the misery of the victims and satisfy the political desires of the opposition.
Balasore Train Accident
On June 2, a massive train accident involving one goods train and two passenger trains took place in Balasore, Odisha claiming the lives of over 275 people and leaving over 900 people injured.
