Yesterday the Mewar Express was rammed in by Goa Express with such force that its three coaches were derailed and the engine of Goa Express ripped 10 feet deep into the last ladies coach, one of the coaches was converted into hollow cylinder of metal.
21 innocent people lost their lives and many were injured all because of an allegedly innocuous chain pulling. The inquiry is on. What is more baffling is the attitude of our honourable Railway Minister Mamta Bannerjee.
She was expected to be on the accident site as soon as the news of collision came in but she visited the site late on Wednesday night when everything was cleared. As per reports coming in She was in her hometown Kolkata, and as per Trinamool leaders she had no urgent public function to attend and had no emergency meeting of the party scheduled for the day.
In fact as per Trinamool Congress insiders she spent the day glued to the TV set not watching the progress of the rescue action but watching interviews of maoists criticizing her for not opposing the imminent nationwide police action against them by the UPA Government of which she is a part and of the CPM attacking her for demanding the withdrawal of CRPF forces from Lalgarh.
Obviously for her what is going on in her home state is of more importance than the train accident. She is more involved in West Bengal politics than in her ministry.
Pity, since she had fought for Railway portfolio and did not settle for anything less after a tough bargain with the Congress. As a Cabinet Minister her vision should include the whole country but it seems that her world is limited to West Bengal only.
Presence of the Top most Brass in such incidents act as a morale booster both for the victims and the rescuers, more so ever some spot decisions which have to be taken for the welfare can be taken only by her had to be deferred.
After all it was only her who had claimed on 3rd July while presenting the Railway Budget that safety was the prime concern of her Ministry. Politicians do seem to have very short memory.
You really think that way? Moral booster... a politician. No way!
He resigned as Railway Minister owning moral responsibility, when an accident occurred in Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu in 1956 in which 144 persons were killed. In fact, he had put in his papers when an accident had occurred in Mahboobnagar three months earlier, killing 112. But Nehru had not accepted it. He refused to continue in the post after the Ariyalur accident.
We will never see the likes of Sri Lal Bahadurji again.