Will Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw resign over Odisha train accident?

New Delhi: The triple train crash in Odisha on Friday, involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train in which at least 280 people were killed and more than 900 injured, is the fourth deadliest train accident since independence, data shows.

Deadliest train accidents in India since independence

1. It was on June 6, 1981, that India recorded its worst train accident which occurred in Bihar. A train fell into the river Bagmati while crossing a bridge, killing more than 750 people.

2. On August 20, 1995, the Purushottam Express collided with the stationary Kalindi Express near Firozabad. The official death toll was around 305.

3. August 2, 1999: The Gaisal train disaster occurred when the Brahmaputra Mail crashed into the stationary Avadh Assam Express at Gaisal station in North Frontier Railway's Katihar division, killing more than 285 people and injuring over 300. Many of the victims were Army, BSF or CRPF personnel.

4. On June 2, 2023, 280 people were killed and more than 900 injured in a horrific triple train crash in Odisha involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, and goods train.

5. On 26 November 1998, the Jammu Tawi–Sealdah Express collided with three derailed coaches of the Frontier Golden Temple Mail in Khanna in Punjab, killing 212 people.

6. November 20, 2016: The Pukhrayan train derailment occurred when 14 coaches of the Indore–Rajendra Nagar Express derailed at Pukhrayan, approximately 60 km from Kanpur, killing 152 people and injuring 260.

7. May 28, 2010: The Jnaneswari Express train derailment -- The Mumbai-bound train had derailed near Jhargram and was then hit by an oncoming goods train, leading to the death of 148 passengers.

8. September 9, 2002: The Rafiganj train wreck occurred when the Howrah Rajdhani Express derailed over a bridge on the Dhave River in Rafiganj, killing more than 140 people. Terrorist sabotage was blamed for the incident.

9. December 23, 1964: The Pamban–Dhanuskodi passenger train was washed away by the Rameswaram cyclone, killing over 126 passengers on board.

10. In 1963, the Udyan Abha Toofan Express accident killed 100+ passengers.

Major train accidents during the Modi government

2014: On May 26, in the Sant Kabir Nagar area of Uttar Pradesh, the Gorakhdham Express, which was headed towards Gorakhpur, collided with a halted goods train in close proximity to Khalilabad station, resulting in 25 fatalities and more than 50 injuries.

2016: On November 20, the Indore-Patna Express 19321 derailed close to Pukhrayan in Kanpur, India, killing at least 150 passengers and injuring more than 150.

2017: On August 23, nine train coaches of the Delhi-bound Kaifiyat Express derailed near Auraiya, Uttar Pradesh, causing at least 70 injuries.

On August 18, 2017, the Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express derailed in Muzaffarnagar, killing 23 people and injuring nearly 60 others.

2022: On January 13, at least 12 coaches of the Bikaner-Guwahati Express derailed in the West Bengal region of Alipurduar, leaving 9 persons dead and 36 others injured.

Will Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw resign over the Odisha train accident?

Like every major train accident, the chorus for the resignation of the Railway Minister is growing and several opposition leaders have demanded that Ashwini Vaishnaw should resign on moral grounds.

When asked for a comment on the demand for resignation, Vaishnaw told reporters on Saturday morning that his first focus would be on rescue and relief operations.

Despite being unable to install anti-collision devices while focusing on the modernisation of trains and stations across the country, it is highly unlikely that Vaishnaw will take any moral responsibility and resign from the post of Railway Minister.

Vaishnaw is the Union Minister having three large portfolios - Railways, Communications (Department of Telecom) and Electronics & Information Technology.

Even if he does after listening to his inner voice, which is a rare phenomenon in Indian politics, Vaishnaw will still remain the Union Minister for Communications, Electronics &Information and Technology.

Railway Ministers in the Modi government

Vaishnaw is the fourth Railway Minister in the Modi government.

On the day when Modi cabinet took oath in 2014 and D V Sadananda Gowda took over as the first Railway Minister under the Modi government from Mallikarjun Kharge (UPA-2 government) on May 26, the Gorakhdham Express collided with a halted goods train, resulting in 25 fatalities and more than 50 injuries.

Suresh Prabhu became the second Railway Minister on November 9, 2014. 

Before being removed as the Railway Minister on September 3, 2017, there were three major train accidents during Prabhu’s tenure.

Piyush Goyal was the third Railway Minister in the Modi government for close to four years from September 3, 2017, to July 7, 2021. However, Goyal was lucky that no major train accident took place during his tenure.

As Vaishnaw is set to complete two years as Railway Minister on July 6, his less than two years of tenure has seen two major train accidents including one of the deadliest train accidents on Friday killing 280 people.

Railway Ministers who resigned after train accidents

In the history of independent India, only two Railway Ministers have resigned owing to moral responsibility after over a dozen of major train mishaps.

Lal Bahadur Shastri was the first Railway Minister to resign in 1963 after the Udyan Abha Toofan Express accident which killed 100+ passengers.

Current Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar was the second and last Railway Minister to resign over a train accident.

When Kumar was Railway Minister, the Gaisal train disaster involving Brahmaputra Mail and Avadh Assam Express killed more than 285 people on August 2, 1999. Many of the victims were Army, BSF or CRPF personnel.