West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addresses a press conference over the Balasore train accident, at Kalighat residence in Kolkata on June 4, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Union Minister Anurag Thakur on June 4 hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for questioning the official death toll in the Odisha train accident and said nobody should play politics over the tragedy.
At least 275 people were killed and 1,175 injured in the triple train accident that occurred in Odisha’s Balasore on June 2, where three trains: the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah Super-Fast and a goods train were involved in the accident, now being described as one of India’s worst train accidents.
An infographic depicting how the Odisha train crash may have happened based on the preliminary probe by Indian Railway Ministry.
Earlier in the day, Mamata Banerjee questioned the death figures given by the Ministry of Railways in the triple train crash, stating that sixty-one people from her State were dead and 182 were still missing. “If from one State, 182 are missing and 61 are confirmed dead, then where would the figures stand?” she asked while speaking to reporters in Kolkata.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur while addressing a press conference in the Ulhasnagar town of Maharashtra’s Thane district, said, the Odisha train accident was heartbreaking.
Reacting to the West Bengal Chief Minister questioning the official death figures, he said, “Mamata Banerjee has lost her ‘mamata’ [affection]…the figures were given by the State [Odisha] Government where the Bharatiya Janata Party is not ruling. Nobody should play politics over such tragic incidents. This is the time for everyone to stand with the families of the victims who have lost so much,” he said.
Mr. Thakur listed the achievements of the Narendra Modi dispensation in the last nine years and claimed that no other government had done so much for the country.
Referring to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, the Minister said the government in power at that time was a “silent” one, while the present one is “striking”.