Railways' policies being framed keeping only the rich in mind: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday alleged that policies for Indian Railways were being framed by the government keeping only the rich in mind, and claimed that trust in Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a "guarantee of betrayal".
In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi alleged that by showing the dream of making those wearing "hawai chappal" (slippers) travel by "hawai jahaz" (airplane), Prime Minister Modi is even distancing them from "gareebon ki sawari" (vehicle of the poor) railways.
"Amidst a 10 per cent increase in fare every year, loot in the name of dynamic fare, rising cancellation charges and expensive platform tickets, people are being lured by showing them a picture of an 'elite train' that the poor cannot even set foot on," the former Congress chief said.
The government has collected Rs 3,700 crore from senior citizens in the last three years by "snatching away" the exemptions given to them, he claimed.
Common persons' trains are made to languish to give precedence to the train selected for publicity, Gandhi said.
He claimed that the poor and middle class passengers have been left out of railways' priority.
"To increase the number of AC coaches, the number of general coaches is being reduced. Not only labourers and farmers but also students and service class people travel in these (general) coaches. The production of AC coaches has also been increased to three times that of normal coaches," he alleged.
"In fact, ending the tradition of presenting the Railway Budget separately was a conspiracy to hide these exploits," Gandhi charged.
The railways' policies are being framed keeping only the rich in mind and this is a "betrayal" of 80 per cent of India's population that depends on it, he said.
"Trust in Modi is a 'guarantee of betrayal'," Gandhi claimed.
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Assam: 20 illegal immigrants pushed back to Bangladesh
Guwahati (PTI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said 20 foreign nationals were apprehended in the state and pushed back to Bangladesh.
"Rude people don't understand soft language... We continuously remind ourselves of this prophetic line when we expel infiltrators from Assam who don't leave themselves. For instance, these 20 illegal Bangladeshis who were PUSHED BACK last night," Sarma said in a post on X.
He, however, did not share details pertaining to the location where they were nabbed or their nationality.
"Assam will fight, Pushbacks WILL CONTINUE," Sarma asserted.
Sribhumi, Cachar, Dhubri and South Salmara-Mankachar districts in Assam share 267.5 km of the international border with Bangladesh.
There is an Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Sutarkandi in Sribhumi. The northeast has a total of three ICPs along the India-Bangladesh border, the other two being at Dawki in Meghalaya and Akhaura in Tripura.
Another ICP in the region is at Darranga in Assam along the India-Bhutan border.
The Assam Police had earlier said that the force and the BSF would do everything possible to prevent any attempt by non-Indians to enter the country from Bangladesh, as per law, following a political turmoil in the neighbouring nation in 2024.
However, all Indian passport holders have been allowed to return from trouble-hit Bangladesh through the entry point in the state.
