Coronavirus Maharashtra: Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray “thanked” Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal
Mumbai:
Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray met with railway minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday evening, saying he wanted to “thank” him for the 800 shramik trains that helped 11 stranded migrants return to their countries of origin.
In a televised address to the state that focused on relaxing the lockdown – “Mission: start again” – Mr. Thackeray said that Mr. Goyal “got mad at me … he took it to heart and sent trains to Maharashtra. “
“Today we sent 16 lakh migrants to their villages via trains and buses. About 800 trains carried 11 lakh migrants. Today I want to thank Piyush Goyal. The last time he got angry against me … he took it to heart and sent trains to Maharashtra, because of which 11 lakh migrants could return home, “said Thackeray.
Thackeray’s comment came after a bitter exchange between his government and the Minister of Railways on the programming of shramik the trains.
On May 26, Goyal lambasted the government of Chief Minister Thackeray for the second time in three days, accusing him of failing to provide passenger information and causing several shramik trains must be delayed or canceled.
The Maharashtra government, which claimed to have obtained only half of the trains (40) it requested (80), dismissed the charges, accusing the minister of “playing politics”.
Earlier, Mr. Goyal continued to push the government of Maharashtra until 2 am on May 25.
“Where is the list of 125 trains from Maharashtra? At 2 am, I only received 46 trains … We are only sending 41 trains for today despite the fact that they are prepared for 125 !!! ” he said.
Mr. Goyal’s barbs prompted Shiv Sena’s chief, Sanjay Raut, to respond. Raut said the state government had already provided the passenger list and added, “The only request is that the train reach the station, as announced earlier.”
The feud between Maharashtra and the railways began after Thackeray, in a video to the state on May 24, said that he was getting only half the number of trains requested. He also said that the state had paid Rs 85 crore for the trains up to that point.
Goyal replied in a dozen tweets over the next few hours, saying the railways were ready to send as many trains as needed to the states, provided they did not “come back empty”, with reference to the cases where migrants did not take the trains and leave for their country of origin on foot or by truck.
