UP elections 2017: Congress demands probe into Kanpur train tragedy

The Congress party on Saturday demanded a thorough probe into the Kanpur train tragedy and it accused the Prime Minister of doing “low-level politicking” by using such sensitive matters to attack political opponents.

The opposition party’s attack comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a poll rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda that the Kanpur railway accident, in which 150 people lost their lives in November last year, was a conspiracy which was hatched across the border.

“It does not suit the stature of the PM to comment on an ongoing investigation and influence it while speaking in an election rally. By making this a political tool to attack his opponents, Modi has again stooped to extremely low level of politicking,” Congress’ senior spokesperson C P Joshi said.

“We demand that a firm, proper and fair investigation take place in this incident and the guilty (whosoever it may be) must be brought to book,” he said.

Accusing Modi of trying to divide the society in Uttar Pradesh on communal lines, he said people of the state will not take such language lying down and will give a united and a befitting reply to the BJP.

The Congress leader also predicted an electoral defeat of the BJP in the state and claimed that Modi had “lost his political balance”.

“The Prime Minister has lost his political balance in the wake of a definite electoral defeat staring at him. Not only has he brought down the dignity of the prime ministerial chair, he continuously brings insult to the oath of allegiance to the Constitution of India,” he claimed.

“Staring at imminent defeat in Uttar Pradesh, Modi’s sheer desperation is clearly visible. The Prime Minister made no bones about the fact that he wants to flaunt the polarisation card,” he claimed.

The Congress leader also posed five questions to Modi, saying if he is telling the nation that the train tragedy is a terror attack, “then isn’t it the second biggest terror attack after Mumbai 26/11 terror attack?”

He said the then Home Minister Shivraj Patil had resigned, accepting responsibility of 26/11 attack, “Will the PM ensure the accountability and responsibility of present Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu by making them resign?”“Or is it that Rajnath is only being used in UP elections for political benefits and is going to be dropped afterwards,” he asked. 

“Is it not a fact that 191 jawans have been martyred in terror incidents in Jammu and Kashmir in the last two and a half years? Will the Prime Minister take responsibility for it,” he asked.

The Congress leader said it was the Modi government that invited “the rogue Pakistan based ISI” to investigate the Pathankot terror attack.

“Since the PM is now stating its involvement in the Kanpur train accident, the nation would like to know why did the PM invite ISI to investigate Pathankot,” he claimed.

“It is a fact that the JIT (Joint Investigation Team) probing the Pathankot attack went back to Pakistan and in return blamed India for carrying out such an attack,” he said.

Joshi also claimed that the Prime Minister’s Saree-Shawl diplomacy viz-a-viz Pakistan was “a complete failure”.

Alleging that the recent arrests by Madhya Pradesh ATS in connection with the ISI-run spy racket have “completely exposed” the “’Chaal Charitra and Chehra’ of the Bharatiya Janata Party”.

He asked if it was true that atleast four persons out of 11 arrested are BJP-VHP Bajrang Dal members and have active connections with the Sangh Parivar.

“Is it not true that they teamed up with the ISI to spy on the Indian Army? What action will the PM and BJP chief Amit Shah take on such elements in their own party,” he said.

Addressing an election meeting yesterday in Gonda district, which is close to the Indo-Nepal border, Modi touched upon the derailment of 14 coaches of Indore-Patna Express near Pukhraya in Kanpur Dehat district on November 20 and said the findings showed it was a “conspiracy”.

“The Kanpur rail accident in which hundreds of people were killed was a conspiracy and conspirators carried it out sitting across the border...Gonda is adjoining Nepal,”he said.

“If the cross-border foes want to carry out their work, is it not necessary that more vigil is maintained in Gonda,” Modi asked people as he exhorted them to vote for the BJP.