A significant train collision occurred in Darjeeling district of West Bengal on Monday morning, resulting in the tragic deaths of 8 individuals. Additionally, 40 people sustained injuries during the incident. The collision occurred in close proximity to Rangapani station of New Jalpaiguri, where a freight train collided with the Kanchenjunga Express, which was en route from Kolkata to Sealdah via Silchar in Assam. Following the accident, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has departed from Delhi to visit the site. The hashtags #TrainAccident and #Resign have been circulating on social media since the morning.
Congress called for the Railway Minister to step down from their position.
On microblogging site X, Congress called for the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav following the accident. Kerala Congress’s X handle shared images of the incident and urged for Vaishnav’s resignation, stating that he has a history of not taking responsibility. They highlighted that while Vaishnav resigned after a railway accident under NDA’s ally Nitish Kumar, he was actually commended for a high number of accidents during his previous term.
RJD leader Bhai Virendra has called for the resignation of the Railway Minister in light of the accident. He pointed out that in a country where the railways have been privatized, accidents are inevitable. In the past, ministers would resign following accidents under the Congress and UPA governments. However, he criticized the current government for not holding any minister accountable for such a major accident. Virendra expressed his lack of confidence in the current government, referring to it as a corrupt regime responsible for such incidents.