Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, February 19 suggested that those who criticise the Vande Bharat Express should be “given right punishment at the right time”.
Vande Bharat Express, also known as Train 18, had developed a snag on its return journey from Varanasi to Delhi on Saturday, hours after its inaugural run. The train had broken down about 200 kms from Delhi.
“Some persons targeting and mocking at semi-high speed train. This is unfortunate. This is an insult to engineers and technicians involved in the project. People should remain alert against such persons who are insulting engineers and technicians and mocking the country,” the PM said while addressing a public meeting here.
“I salute engineering professionals, who will in future make a bullet train in India and run it also…I am getting letter of people who are hurt”, the PM said asking them, “Whether it is right to insult engineers and technicians? Is mocking them right. Can they be pardoned? Should they not be given right punishment at the right time.”
Also Read: Day After Being Inaugurated by PM Modi, Vande Bharat Express Breaks Down
The PM had been criticised for grabbing the photo op of smilingly inaugurating the train a day after the Pulwama terror attack.
Opposition leaders had also mounted criticism considering the train, touted as India’s first semi-high speed train, broke down soon after inauguration.
The Congress President had said, “Modi ji, I think Make in India needs a serious rethink. Most people feel it has failed. I assure you we in the Congress are thinking very deeply about how it will be done,” Gandhi had said.
Also Read: Day After Major Terrorist Attack, PM Modi’s Photo Op At Vande Bharat Express Inauguration
Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav had on Sunday taken to Twitter to say, “After the inauguration, fumes were seen in Vande Bharat train, power failure inside coaches, snag developed in brakes after which train came to a halt. Vande Bharat is a story of development. Farmers are angry, youths are unemployed, security system has collapsed and country’s economy shattered,” Akhilesh had tweeted.
Before the train was inaugurated, Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal had embarrassed the government by posting a sped-up video of the train.
Many have pointed out that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, before the train broke down, had virtually claimed all the credit for the train but when it came under criticism for the poor show, dismissed the criticism as an insult of engineers and professionals who were never mentioned before the launch.
Also Read: Not a Bird, Not a Plane, It’s a Sped Up Video: Piyush Goyal Misleads People on Twitter