Talking to the media on the evening of 3rd June, Union Railways Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, reacting on the statements earlier made by West Bengal Chief Minister and former Railways Minister, Mamata Banerjee, said, “It is very clear, our CrPC lays out a proper procedure, and the state government has given the correct and accurate information. As of now, the accurate information is 261 (death toll). We want full transparency”.
“This is not the time to do politics, this is the time to fully focus our entire energy on making sure that the complete restoration happens in the earliest possible time”, added Vaishnaw.
On being asked about people asking for his resignation, the minister said that it is absolutely fine.
Earlier today, West Bengal CM, Mamata Banerjee had reached Balasore, and speaking with the media, standing right next to Vaishnaw, was trying to manipulate the death toll. While Vaishnaw kept on clarifying that the official number of lives lost in the train accident involving a goods train, the Yashwantpur-Howrah Express, and the Chennai Coromandel Express, which took place on the evening of 2nd June, was 261, Banerjee kept on emphasizing that ‘as per the information she had’, the number was 500.
She had also added that this incident would not have happened if anti-collision device was in place, and if a co-ordination gap in the railway ministry did not exist.
