On moral ground: Railway ministers who resigned after train tragedies

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is facing flak after a stampede at New Delhi Railway Station resulted in the death of 18 people. Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate criticised the minister for allegedly downplaying the incident and called for his immediate resignation.

 

The stampede occured when a crowd gathered at the station on Saturday night to board trains for the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj. While the Indian Railways initially dismissed the reports of stampede as "rumour," it later confirmed that an undisclosed number of people had been injured and taken to hospital.

 

Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Supriya Shrinate said railway officials were well aware of how many people were entering the station and as many as 1,500 general tickets were being sold every hour. "The railway minister must resign with immediate effect, taking moral responsibility for the incident. Else, he should be sacked in case he does not tender his resignation for the tragedy," she told reporters.

 

Similar demands were raised last year, when four goods trains derailed within a span of two months. The most catastrophic incident was the Balasore train collision in Odisha, which claimed approximately 300 lives.

 

Here's a list of railway ministers who resigned, or offered to resign, following major train tragedies, taking moral responsibility for the incidents. 

 

Lal Bahadur Shastri (1956)

 

In 1956, two catastrophic train accidents occurred. The first was in September near Mahbubnagar, Hyderabad State (now in Telangana), where a train plunged into a river after a bridge collapsed due to heavy rains, resulting in at least 125 fatalities. The second occurred in November near Ariyalur, Tamil Nadu, when another bridge collapse caused a train to fall into the river, killing over 150 passengers.

 

Shastri, then the railway minister, offered his resignation after the Mahbubnagar accident, but Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru did not accept it. Following the Ariyalur disaster, Shastri insisted on resigning to uphold moral responsibility, and this time, Nehru accepted his resignation.

 

Nitish Kumar (1999)

 

On August 2, 1999, the Gaisal train collision in West Bengal involved the head-on collision of the Avadh Assam Express and the Brahmaputra Mail due to a signaling error. The tragic accident resulted in at least 285 deaths and over 300 injuries.

 

Nitish Kumar, then railway minister, visited the accident site and was profoundly affected by the scene. He promptly submitted his resignation to then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, accepting moral responsibility for the disaster. Initially, Vajpayee was reluctant to accept the resignation, but Kumar insisted, emphasising the importance of ministerial accountability in such grave circumstances.

 

Mamata Banerjee (2000)

 

In 2000, two significant train accidents occurred. The first was the derailment of the Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express in Bihar, leading to numerous fatalities. The second involved the collision of two trains in Punjab, resulting in additional loss of life.

 

Following these incidents, then-Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee offered her resignation twice, accepting moral responsibility for the accidents. However, then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee did not accept her resignation.

 

Suresh Prabhu (2017)

 

In August 2017, two derailments occurred within a span of four days. The first was the derailment of the Kalinga Utkal Express in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, resulting in over 20 deaths. Shortly after, the Kaifiyat Express derailed in Auraiya, Uttar Pradesh, injuring at least 80 people.

 

In the wake of these accidents, then-Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu offered his resignation, taking moral responsibility. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him to wait, and Prabhu continued in his role for some time thereafter. He was later shifted to Ministry of Commerce and Industry.