Akhilesh Yadav slams Centre over reported move to charge railway passengers for extra luggage
New Delhi/Lucknow, Aug 18 (PTI): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday opposed any move by the Railways to weigh passengers' luggage and charge extra in trains, saying it would be anti-poor and would further burden the common man.
"The BJP has become a heavy burden on the people. A new chapter of corruption is being opened in the name of weighing passengers' luggage. This decision is against the poor," Yadav said in a post on X.
Yadav cited a media report in his post. However there has been no announcement from the Railways on any such measures.
The central lawmaker from Kannauj said the measure would not impact the affluent who travel in the first class air-conditioned compartments but would trouble poor families and migrant workers who travel home once or twice a year with foodgrains and other essentials.
"Does the BJP now want to snatch even the food of poor farmers and labourers? If the government wants to collect money, it should do so from AC-1 and AC-2 passengers, not from those in general, sleeper or AC-3 coaches," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
Alleging that corruption has hollowed out the railways under BJP rule, Yadav demanded that ruling party MPs and MLAs give up their free travel passes before burdening ordinary passengers.
"If this decision is not withdrawn, people will cut BJP's return ticket before time," he added, terming the move "shameful" and calling it a reflection of the "double engine government's failure" to protect the interests of the poor.
भाजपा जनता के लिए भारी बोझ बन गयी है। जिस दिन भाजपाई भ्रष्टाचार की पोटली को जनता तोल देगी, उस दिन भाजपा पटरी से उतर जाएगी… और अब वो दिन बहुत दूर भी नहीं।
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) August 19, 2025
रेल में यात्रियों के सामान को तोलने के नाम पर भ्रष्टाचार का एक और अध्याय खोला जा रहा है। ये फ़ैसला ग़रीबों के ख़िलाफ़ है,… pic.twitter.com/qxihndNYlV
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
