Shramik Special trains row: Piyush Goyal lambasts MVA govt, advises against petty politics

The war of words between the Centre and the Maharashtra government escalated on Monday after Railways Minister Piyush Goyal lashed out at the latter for not giving the list of migrant workers so that 125 Shramik Special trains could be operated from the state to ferry them back to their native places. He recalled that 65 trains had to be cancelled in the last few days because the state government failed to make adequate preparations such as bringing passengers to the railway station.

Citing the example of UP CM Yogi Adityanath and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar for allowing the entry of migrant workers into the state, he hailed it as a symbol of "true leadership". Maintaining that BJP as an opposition party had supported the ruling government in crisis situations, he urged the present-day opposition to avoid petty politics. Goyal also slammed that the Maharashtra government for its criticism of the Centre's economic package worth over Rs.20 lakh crore.

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Details of 46 trains provided

Addressing the people of the state on May 24, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray contended that the Centre did not take any steps initially when the Maha Vikas Aghadi government had requested arrangements for the return of migrant workers to their native places. According to him, the action was taken only when the situation got worse. Revealing that he had sought 80 trains daily for the migrant workers, Thackeray alleged that only 50% of trains were being permitted. After Goyal appealed to the Maharashtra CM to immediately send a list of passengers with their destination details for the operation of 125 Shramik Special trains on May 25, Sena MP Sanjay Raut claimed that the state government had followed suit. However, the Railways Minister said that details pertaining to only 46 trains had been shared as of 2 am on Monday out of which 5 couldn't be operated because of Cyclone Amphan. 

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