NCP ministers target Goyal over availability of trains

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh alleged on Tuesday that the Railways sent 34 trains to Maharashtra to ferry migrant workers to West Bengal despite the eastern state requesting the Centre not to send any trains till May 26. Nawab Malik, another NCP minister in Maharashtra, held railway minister Piyush Goyal responsible for migrants gathering in large numbers at LTT in Mumbai, expecting that north-bound trains will arrive there.

Deshmukh also hit out at Goyal for allegedly claiming that Maharashtra government did not send migrant workers despite availability of trains. "West Bengal chief secretary Rajiva Sinha had written a letter to the Railway Administration on May 22, saying no train be sent to West Bengal till May 26.

"Despite the letter, the railway administration sent 34 trains to Maharashtra today. They (the Centre) wanted to embarrass Maharashtra by doing so," Deshmukh alleged in a video message. "Today he (Goyal) is saying Maharashtra has not sent migrant workers despite the number of trains made available to it. He should not lie and play such type of politics during such a situation," Deshmukh added.

Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik held Goyal responsible for the gathering of migrant workers at the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus here. "Migrant workers are stuck at the LTT for want of 49 trains which were declared, but the Railway Ministry is not letting any train go from there. Goyal and the Centre are deliberately playing politics," the NCP national spokesperson alleged.

It was declared earlier that 49 trains will be sent from LTT, but the divisional railways manager said later that not more than 16 trains will be sent, Malik alleged. "Send those 49 trains. The number of passengers is increasing and Goyal will be solely responsible for it," he added.