Delhi station stampede: Congress demands railway minister’s resignation

New Delhi: Congress demanded immediate resignation of railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for the Delhi railway station stampede that killed 18 people.

“Why is the government not sacking the railway minister? Why is he not taking responsibility and resigning?” asked Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate.

‘Govt aware of an incoming rush but took no measures’

Speaking to the media, Congress said that the government was aware of the people coming to the railway station as 1,500 tickets were issued per hour in the general category.

“When you know how many people are coming where was the railway security? Why were there no queues? Why was there no one to manage the large crowd at the station? Who is responsible for this mismanagement?” the Congress leader said.

“We want the immediate resignation of the railway minister?” said Shrinate.

Others join in the demand

Other Opposition leaders have also joined in the demand, as they claim that the government is responsible for the stampede. People came to the railway station as they were told through advertisements that there was an arrangement at Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh Mela.

Former Uttar Pradesh director general of police Vikram Singh said, “If the responsibility is not of Railways then whose? You are taking fare from the passenger but there are no arrangements.”

Railways says, unprecedented crowd

Indian Railways northern division chief public relations officer Himanshu Shekar Upadhyay, in a video statement, said, “This time, an unprecedented crowd has gathered for the Maha Kumbh, and we are running a record number of special trains to serve everyone. A tragic incident occurred on the night of February 15. The Prayagraj Express was scheduled to arrive at platform number 14, and a large number of devotees were present there. Meanwhile, we had planned to operate a special train from platform 12. As people started moving from platform 14 to platform 12, some slipped on the stairs, which possibly led to the unfortunate stampede. We lost 18 lives, and 13 others were injured.”

At the time of the incident, the Patna-bound Magadh Express was standing at platform number 14 and the New Delhi-Jammu Uttar Sampark Kranti Express was stationed at platform number 15.

“Some people who were coming down from the foot-over-bridge towards platform numbers 14 and 15 using stairs slipped and fell on others,” said Himanshu, citing the cause of the stampede.

Two-member committee to investigate

The railway ministry has formed a high-level inquiry committee including Narsingh (BCCM, Northern Railway), and Security Commissioner Gangwar.

Narsingh, one of the investigating officers, said, “We have started investigating, the review of CCTV footage has been done. We are also speaking to witnesses to understand the sequence of events.”