Ashwini Vaishnaw and Mamata Banerjee continue war of words over Odisha train accident, ‘Nothing to do with Kavach but…’

The war of words between Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and West Bengal chief minister and former Rail Minister Mamata Banerjee over the devastating train accident in Odisha. 

Slamming Banerjee over her comment on Kavach, he said, “It has nothing to do with Kavach. The reason is not what Mamata Banerjee said yesterday. This incident happened due to a change in electronic interlocking”

Earlier reacting to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's remark on the official death count in the tragedy, the Railways Minister said, "We want full transparency, this is not the time to do politics, this is time to focus on making sure that restoration happens at the earliest."

Commenting on Mamata Banerjee's demand for his resignation, he said that it is absolutely fine but 

On Saturday, there was a disagreement between Mamata Banerjee and Vaishnaw during a media interaction regarding the death count in a tragic accident. Banerjee suggested the possibility of the death toll reaching 500, while Vaishnaw, who was standing alongside her, corrected her statement and stated that the current count was 238. Banerjee mentioned that rescue work was still ongoing in three bogies.

The deadly train accident left over 280 dead and hundreds injured. The disastrous accident that involved 3 trains occurred around 7.30 pm on Friday.

The Coromandel Express, running at about 127 km per hour, collided with the goods train and derailed on the main line, an official from the railway ministry said. Within minutes of the collision, the official cited above said that the Howrah-bound Yashwantnagar Express coming from the opposite side collided with the Coromandel Express.

On Saturday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site to take stock of the situation and assured that stringent action would be taken against those found responsible.

“It’s a painful incident. Government will leave no stone unturned for the treatment of those injured. It’s a serious incident, instructions issued for probe from every angle. Those found guilty will be punished stringently. Railway is working towards track restoration. I met the injured victims,” he said.