In a shocking statement, West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh has termed deaths of migrants returning home on Shramik Special trains as "small and isolated" incidents.?
As multiple?incidents of migrant workers losing their lives on trains are being reported every other day, the comments come across as purely insensitive and without?any regard for the problems being faced by the poor.
Apart from the rising summer heat, migrants workers are also fighting hunger and dehydration as many have succumbed in trains on their way home, nine passengers, including a child, have been reported dead on 'Shramik Special' trains since Monday.
"Some unfortunate incidents have taken place. But you can't just blame the railways for it. They have been doing their best to ferry the migrants. Some deaths have taken place, but these are isolated incidents.
"We have examples of how railways have done their best to serve the passengers. Some small incidents have taken place, but that doesn't mean you will close down the railways," Ghosh, also a BJP MP, told reporters.
His remarks haven't gone down well as he faced the ire of Netizens.?
His remarks also drew sharp reactions from the ruling TMC and the opposition CPI(M) in West Bengal, which asked the BJP leader to be more sensitive to the plight of the labourers.