Odisha train accident: TMC demands resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal on Friday demanded Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw's resignation over the horrific triple train crash in neighbouring Odisha.

TMC's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee alleged that the Centre was spending crores of rupees on software to spy on opposition leaders while neglecting the installation of anti-collision devices in trains to prevent such accidents.

He said the Narendra Modi government at the Centre was boasting of Vande Bharat trains and newly-constructed railway stations to bolster political support by "misleading the public", but neglecting the safety measures.

At least 70 people were killed, and more than 350 injured in the crash in Balasore district, involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, and a goods train, officials said.

Banerjee said it is the impoverished and marginalised people who bear the brunt of "the apathy of the Centre" and their actions, whether it is demonetisation, GST, lockdowns, farm laws or inadequate railway safety measures.

"My heart goes out to the families who lost their loved ones and wishing a speedy recovery to the injured, and if there remains a semblance of conscience, the Railway Minister should resign. NOW!" he wrote on Facebook.

"When Mamata Banerjee was the railway minister, then too train accidents happened, did she resign? The answer is no. The TMC should stop politicising a tragic accident," BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said.