On Rahul Gandhi's Interaction With Loco Pilots, Clarification From Railways

After Rahul Gandhi paid a visit to the New Delhi Railway Station to meet loco pilots, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of Northern Railway Deepak Kumar said that the crew members with whom the Leader of Opposition had a discussion, at the railway station were not from their lobby but may be from outside.

"Today at around 12:45 pm Rahul Gandhi came to New Delhi Railway Station. He saw our crew lobby. He had 7-8 cameramen with him. He visited our crew lobby and checked into how we book our crew lobby. After coming out of the crew lobby he had a discussion with a few people. There were around 7-8 crew who were not from our lobby but it seems that they were from outside. Since he has 7-8 cameramen, he was filming them and making reels," CPRO Deepak Kumar said speaking to ANI.

"The loco-pilots were not from our lobby. It seems that they were brought from outside," he stressed.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi met loco pilots at the New Delhi Railway Station after visiting the families affected by the Hathras stampede on Friday.

"Leader of Opposition Shri @RahulGandhi met the loco pilots at New Delhi Railway Station. These loco pilots are the backbone of the railways which is called the lifeline of the country. Making their lives simpler and safer will be a strong step towards railway safety," the Congress said in a post on 'X'.

Rahul Gandhi's interaction with loco-pilots comes weeks after the Kanchenjunga Express train accident in West Bengal which claimed at least 10 lives.

Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi arrived in Hathras and met with the bereaved families of those who lost their lives in the July 2 tragedy at a religious 'Satsang' event of self-styled godman Suraj Pal alias 'Bhole Baba' in Fulari village in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras, which claimed 121 lives.

On his way to Hathras, the Congress leader also stopped in Aligarh to meet the victims' families. He expressed his condolences and sought to understand their situation.

"It is a sad incident. Many lives have been lost. I am not approaching this from a political perspective but addressing the deficiencies of the administration. The main priority should be to provide maximum compensation to the poor families affected by this tragedy. I request CM Yogi Adityanath to provide compensation with an open heart," he said while speaking to the media.

The Congress MP further said that the family members of the those dead in the stampede informed him there was no police presence at the event, which contributed to the chaos.

"If there is a delay in providing compensation, it will not help anyone. I spoke with the families, and they told me there was no police arrangement at the venue. They are in shock, and I wanted to understand their situation," he said.

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