Centre-Maha tussle on special trains rages
MUMBAI: The tussle between the Centre led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Maharashtra government led by the Shiv Sena over the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic flared up on Sunday and Monday.
A day after chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and Union railway minister Piyush Goyal engaged in a war of words over the Shramik Specials to ferry back migrant labourers to teir home states, on Monday, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut attacked the Centre saying it needs to change its mindset about Maharashtra and see it as a state and not an Opposition government.
In an address to the state on Sunday, the Maharashtra CM said he had demanded 80 Shramik trains per day to ferry migrants home, but got only around 40. Goyal then on Twitter asked Thackeray to send the list of passengers with their medical certificate, details such as boarding station, etc, in the next one hour. “Sadly, it has been 1.5 hours but Maharashtra Govt. has been unable to give required information about tomorrow’s planned 125 trains to GM of Central Railway. Planning takes time & we do not want train to stand empty at the stations, so it’s impossible to plan without full details,” Goyal had later tweeted.
The war of words continued on Monday with Goyal seeking the list. “Where is the list for 125 trains from Maharashtra? As of 2am, received list of only 46 trains of which 5 are to West Bengal and Odisha which cannot operate due to cyclone Amphan. We are notifying only 41 trains for today despite being prepared for 125!!!,” he tweeted.
Raut said that earlier trains have left Maharashtra without passenger list. “Many trains have left Maharashtra from Nagpur and Pune without any list. We have that list. If they come out of the mindset that Maharashtra has an opposition government and think of it as a state, the question of seeking lists won’t arise,” Raut told reporters in Mumbai.
On Monday afternoon, Raut tweeted: “Piyush ji, what list was sought for Nagpur-Udhampur train that left on May 14, 20[20]. Please share what efforts have been taken to arrange trains first and then to gather passengers? Now which list are you seeking? Don’t forget that you represent Maharashtra in Rajya Sabha.”
He further said, “The Maharashtra government has given a list to the railway ministry. There is only one request to Piyush Goyal ji, the trains should reach the destination. The train going to Gorakhpur should not reach Odisha instead.” Raut was referring to last week’s incident where hundreds of labourers travelling to UP landed in Rourkela in Odisha. The railways later claimed it was a planned diversion on account of congestion.