'Incapable minister': Aditya Thackeray targets Ashwini Vaishnaw over Bandra stampede

The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Sunday targeted Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, calling him "incapable". This morning, at least nine persons were injured, including two critically, in a stampede after rush for boarding a Gorakhpur-bound train at the Bandra Terminus in Mumbai. 

Taking to X, former minister Aditya Thackeray said the reflected "how incapable the current Railways Minister is". "The BJP has made Ashwini Vaishnav ji, a prabhari for BJP Maharashtra for elections, but every week there are some incidents and accidents that occur with the railways. Such a shame that our country has been forced under such incapable ministers," he said. 

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut had also attacked Vaishnaw, claiming he was too busy with the bullet train project while passengers in Mumbai were being ignored. "Mumbai city gives maximum revenue to the Union government. Compared to it, we hardly get any facilities here for passengers," he said while speaking to media. "The railway minister is too involved with the bullet train project and people are left to die because of the poor infrastructure as the railway minister is disconnected with their problems." 

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, aimed at significantly reducing the travel time between the two cities, is currently under-construction. The railway minister is always presented as highly educated and his association with premium institutes like IITs is highlighted, but he has failed to solve problems of the common people who are dependent on the Railways for travel, Raut claimed.

"Mumbai city not only gives maximum revenue but has the highest number of suburban passengers. However, the railway minister has not taken any steps to solve the problems," the Rajya Sabha member charged. Raut also hit out at the NDA government at the Centre over some of the railway accidents in the country during its tenure. "Since the third term of this new Union government has commenced, at least 25 major railway accidents have taken place," he claimed. 

The incident took place when people rushed to board train 22921 Bandra-Gorakhpur Antyodaya Express on platform number 1 at the Bandra Terminus. The Western Railway said the incident occurred at 2.45 am on platform number one of the Bandra Terminus when the Antyodaya Express was "slowly moving" from the BDTS (Bandra Terminus) yard towards the platform. "During this time, some passengers on the platform attempted to board the moving train, leading to an accident where two passengers fell and got injured," said the Western Railway.

The Western Railway said it is operating more than 130 festival special trains for various destinations, especially to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, in view of the upcoming Diwali and Chhath festivals