Raj Thackeray's "Focus" Jibe At State Government Over Mumbai Train Accident
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief, Raj Thackeray condoled the loss of life in the Mumbra train accident in Thane, in which atleast 4 people have died, and criticised the Mahayuti-led state government of only focusing on elections instead of real issues of the people.
"The train accident that happened in Mumbai today is unfortunate. Many passengers died in this accident, but similar incidents are happening in Mumbai every day. Passengers are getting injured in Mumbai every day and yet no one is doing anything to help," the MNS chief said during a press conference on Monday.
"Our entire focus is only on the elections and campaigning. Will Raj Thackeray-Uddhav Thackeray form an alliance? More important than this question are how travel is going in Mumbai today, how people are living in the cities and in the state as a whole," he added.
He further slammed the current and previous state governments for not pushing for Mumbai local trains to have a separate governing corporation for it.
"The demand for a separate corporation for Mumbai Railways has been going on for many years. We had also made this demand, but till date no government has paid any attention to this demand. Today, the planning of cities has completely collapsed. Huge crowds are coming. Big roads, bridges, metros are being built for them. Tall buildings are being allowed, but there is no planning for parking," he said.
Criticising poor city planning, he added, "Every city has a serious traffic problem. Building new roads and metros is not making any difference, yet no government is thinking about city planning or the influx of people from outside."
Saying that he is shocked with the crowd at railway stations, he questioned the political leaders, including MPs, MLAs and ministers who go abroad, and whether they learn from their trips regarding public transport.
"I myself have travelled by train in Mumbai for a long time. But the situation was a little better then. Now, seeing the crowd at the railway station, I am shocked. These MPs, MLAs, ministers go abroad - do they learn anything from there? If such an incident had happened abroad, how would it have been handled there? We have none. Here, human life has no value," he said.
Earlier on Monday , Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray took a jibe at Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, accusing them of being responsible for the deaths.
"Rail mantri has become a reel mantri. There have been multiple terrible train accidents in the last 2-3 years but no one is coming forward to claim any responsibility. This is solely the responsibility of the railway department and the railway minister... People of India have demanded his resignation multiple times but he carries on."
Multiple passengers travelling towards Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) fell from a excessive crowded train at Mumbra railway station in Thane district on Monday. The accident occurred on the Down/Fast Line and disrupted local train services, with the reason suspected to be due to excessive crowd on the train.
The two estranged cousins, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS chief Raj Thackeray have been in talks for a potential alliance ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) are to be announced by the Election Commission.
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