Who is responsible for increase in railway deaths: Cong asks Modi

New Delhi: Accusing the Modi government of "abject failure" on railway safety, Congress today asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tell the people, who is responsible for the deaths in railway accidents and cited his own speeches on accountability.

"Modi ji has made many speeches about Accountability. Who is accountable for the increase in Railway Deaths, Modi ji? We demand that for all these accidents, we want to ask the Prime Minister, who is responsible & what action will be taken?," Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar said.

"The Indian National Congress would like to ask the Modi Government as to who is accountable for this continuous loss of innocent lives. Is there a deliberate neglect of duties which is resulting in these mishaps? It is high time someone took responsibility for the present mess," he said.

The Congress spokesperson said the rail accident due to the derailment of Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express is the third major train accident in the past two months, resulting in the death of 40 innocent lives and it is the fifth such accident in the past six months.

He said even as the probe report of previous Patna-bound Indore-Rajendranagar Express derailment that took place two months back in which at least 146 people lost their lives is awaited, the Government has been again caught unaware to deal with a similar accident in Andhra Pradesh.

Congress also put out an article on its website entitled, "BJP has compromised Railways security, to meet its own PR goals" that said, "An image obsessed BJP Government has cultivated a host of Ministers who are more concerned with looking good rather than actually serving people."

The article also said, "The question to be asked is what compromises on safety are being made so that Shri Prabhu can meet his financial targets, and help in building the image of the Modi Government."

Kumar alleged that the Narendra Modi Government has "failed" on all fronts and the abject Railway Safety record is a good barometer of this Government's record.

"While changing the colours of the bedsheets, surge pricing and Wifi at stations could be cosmetic ideas, the Modi Government has miserably failed on the core issue of ensuring the safety and security of the crores of passengers who travel by train in the length and breadth of this country," he said.

"Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is quick to advertise the so called 'Bullet Train' which he is supposedly bringing to India since the last 32 months, but remains a mute spectator and maintains a stoic silence on the loss of lives due to abject negligence on the part of his Government.