The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Under fire for a series of railway accidents, Union minister for railways Ashwini Vaishnaw lost his temper and lashed out at the opposition in the Lok Sabha on Thursday (August 1) and blamed the Congress for spreading false information and lies by amplifying the “smallest” incident on social media through its troll army to instil fear in the hearts of railway passengers.
In his reply to the debate on the Demand for Grants of Railways, Vaishnaw said that while even a single rail accident is bad, he then proceeded to compare the Modi years with the UPA years and said that rail accidents had reduced by 68%.
“Even a single accident is bad. No one is happy to see such circumstances. But because opposition members are asking for a number that is why I am placing the number here. During the UPA years about 171 railway accidents would take place on average in a year. That has reduced by 68%. Even now we are not satisfied and should not be, whether government or opposition. We need to work together on safety and we are ready to do so in every way. There is no doubt about that,” he said.
On July 30, two persons were killed and 20 others injured after 18 coaches of the Howrah-Mumbai Mail derailed. Earlier in July, the Hazarduari Express collided with two cars at Khardah Railway Station. Between July 20 and July 21, three goods trains derailed across three states – Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and West Bengal. In June, the Kanchanjunga Express was hit by a goods train in Bengal’s Darjeeling district, killing 10 and injuring 40. In June 2023, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and a goods train were involved in a fatal pile-up at Balasore in Odisha, killing 293 people.
As opposition benches erupted in protest, Vaishnaw lost his temper and blamed the opposition for raising questions.
“Those who are shouting here must be asked in their 58 years of being in power why were they not able to install Automatic Train Protection (ATP), even 1 km. Today, they are daring to raise questions. They should look within. In this house when Mamata Banerjee was the railway minister, she used to give the accident numbers that decreased from 0.24 to 0.19 these people used to clap in the House and today when it has decreased on the index from 0.19 to 0.03, they are placing such allegations. Will the country run in this way? In order to run the country and to improve the railways everyone has to work together. This cannot go on,” he said.
Vaishnaw then proceeded to blame the Congress and the Samajwadi Party’s social media teams for amplifying even the smallest things, spreading lies, in a bid to instill fear in the hearts of 2 crore passengers who use the railways every day.
“Since they are talking so much I want to add that the opposition Congress as a part of well thought out politics with the help of its troll army started raising the smallest things on social media in such a manner. At the old railway station in Ayodhya when an old wall was damaged then Congress and Samajwadi Party handles picked it up immediately. How will the country run on such lies? Two crore people travel daily, are they trying to put fear in their hearts? I want to request everyone to clap for the 12 lakh railway employees to encourage them who work day and night,” he said and proceeded to clap on his table.
The other members of the treasury benches followed suit amid loud slogans from the opposition members.
“Congress jhoot ki dukan chala rahi hai aur ye jhoot ki dukaan nahi chalegi (Congress is running a shop of lies and this shop will not work). Sometimes they humiliate the armed forces and other times the railways. This politics will not work,” he said.
As he continued with his speech amid loud protests from opposition members, who rose from their seats, and some even made their way to the well, Vaishnaw lost his cool again and said that the government does not make “reels” but runs on work.
“Hum reel bananewali nahi, kaam karne wale hai (We are not like you who only make reels, we are those who work) Sit down. Speaker sir, bring the house to order. They are saying anything,” he said to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla.
As opposition members chanted “tanashahi nahi chalegi” and “rail mantri haye haye”, Birla in a rare move asked the minister not to respond to anyone while speaking.
“Don’t respond to any member,” said Birla.
Later as the demand for grants was put to vote, the opposition staged a walkout
Birla then once again requested the minister to not respond to any statement from the opposition side while speaking, and also urged the Treasury benches to not do the same when an opposition leader is speaking.
“It would have been nice if the opposition members listened to the minister and if they had to raise a point I would have given them time later. But the procedure is that no member can interrupt while the minister is speaking. I listened to all members till late night. But this is not a good procedure. I urge the minister also to never respond to anything that anyone is saying,” he said.
“And I will say so for the opposition too that when they are speaking they should not be interrupted. The procedure is the same for everyone in the House.”