(MENAFN- AsiaNet News) The Political arena saw a heated exchange on Friday as BJP alleged that congress leader Rahul Gandhi's recent interaction with Indian Railways loco pilots at the New Delhi railway station was staged with professional actors, not actual loco pilots.
Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, met around 50 individuals purported to be loco pilots, who raised concerns about "inadequate rest due to understaffing." According to party sources, Gandhi assured them he would bring their issues to Parliament.
However, BJP's Amit Malviya took to social media platform X to question the authenticity of the meeting. Malviya shared a claim made by a Rajdhani Express driver who, upon hearing about Gandhi's presence at the station, went to meet him but did not recognize any of the individuals as genuine loco pilots.
“It seems Third Time Fail Rahul Gandhi went to meet loco pilots this afternoon, with eight cameramen and a director in tow. You can count them... What is more bizarre is that he didn't meet actual loco pilots. In all probability, they were professional actors, brought in by his team,” Malviya wrote on X.
The controversy stems from Gandhi's engagement with these individuals, who highlighted their struggles with long working hours and insufficient rest, citing that such conditions lead to increased stress and potential accidents. They demanded a weekly rest of 46 hours and adequate amenities on trains, echoing complaints documented in recent Indian Railways reports, including those from an accident probe in Vishakapatnam.
Rahul Gandhi, who has been vocally critical of the current government's policies on railways' privatization and recruitment, reiterated his commitment to addressing these issues. His sister, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, also shared pictures of the interaction and criticized the government's handling of railway vacancies.
"Loco pilots who run trains in Indian Railways work in very difficult conditions. Long distance trains, long hours of duty, no sleep, no rest, they work under stress and this also leads to accidents. There are more than three lakh vacancies in the railways. Thousands of loco pilot posts are also vacant. The BJP government is not making recruitments," she said in a post in Hindi on X.
Adding to the dispute, Priyanka Gandhi claimed that the current government's neglect of recruitment is a deliberate move towards privatizing the railways.
BJP's allegations have added a new dimension to the ongoing debate on railways' management and staffing. The Rajdhani driver's claim has sparked discussions on social media, with supporters and critics of both parties weighing in. Videos and images of the meeting continue to circulate, with viewers dissecting the interactions for authenticity.
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