BJP wants to defame railways to privatise it, says Rahul

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that the BJP-led Centre wants to prove railways “incompetent” so that it has an excuse to sell it off to its “friends,” and urged people to remove the Modi government to save the common man’s transport.

In a post on X, Gandhi said, Rail journey has become a punishment under Narendra Modi’s rule! Passengers of every category are being harassed by the Modi government which is promoting only ‘elite trains’ by reducing general coaches from common persons’ trains.

People are not able to sit peacefully on their seats even with confirmed tickets, he claimed. Gandhi said the common person is forced to travel by hiding in the toilet or sitting on the floor. “The Modi government wants to prove railways ‘incompetent’ by weakening it with its policies, so that it has an excuse to sell it to its friends,” Gandhi alleged.

Meanwhile, the Congress also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has caused an “unprecedented decline” in worker wages adjusted for price rise and said that an I.N.D.I.A. coalition government will return the country to a higher growth trajectory.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said multiple data sources, including the Modi government’s own official statistics, are unanimous in showing the simple fact that workers can buy less today than they could 10 years ago. A combination of slow wage growth and back-breaking inflation has caused an unprecedented decline in real wages, he said in a statement. “Labour Bureau’s Wage Rate Index (Government Data): Between 2014 and 2023, real wages for labourers have stagnated, with clear declines in real wages in Modi-II,” he said.