"Only False Assurances": Sanjay Raut Slams Centre Amid Row Over Railway 'Kavach'

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut on Monday hit out against the Narendra Modi-led Central government over the Balasore train tragedy, demanding the government to fix responsibility for the incident. He also criticized Central government for too much talk about the indigenously developed anti-collision system 'Kavach' without actually widely implementing it.

"They (Central government) talked about 'Kavach' but it's not there. They only give false assurances," Sanjay Raut said.

He pointed out the resignations of Madhavrao Scindia and Lal Bahadur Shastri from Railway ministerships when major train tragedies happened during their respective tenures.

"Madhavrao Scindia and Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned (from ministership) on moral grounds. Is it not the responsibility of the Central government and the railway minister," he asked?

Many opposition parties raised their criticism against the Modi government over the Balasore train tragedy. Many of the leaders also demanded the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Congress also questioned the Centre instituting a Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) enquiry on the incident. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), or any other law enforcement agency, cannot fix accountability for technical, institutional and political failures.

He said, "consistently flawed decision making has made travelling by rail unsafe and has in turn compounded the problems of our people."

"Unfortunately, the people in charge - your goodself and Railway Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw - do not want to admit that there are problems. The Railway Minister claims to have already found a root cause, but yet has requested the CBI to investigate. The CBI is meant to investigate crimes, not railway accidents. The CBI, or any other law enforcement agency, cannot fix accountability for technical, institutional and political failures. In addition, they lack the technical expertise in railway safety, signalling, and maintenance practices," read the letter from Mr Kharge.

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