Even as the death toll in the Indore-Patna Express train derailment tragedy touches 131, politicians of the nation are busy giving biting comments on media, both social and otherwise. 

14 coaches of the Indore-Patna Express derailed in the wee hours of Sunday morning in what is being touted as the worst train accident in years. While leaders and politicians expressed condolences on social media:

Many, however, were quick to jump into the blame game: 

While the accident has brought the attention back on passenger safety issues on the Indian railways, many, such as RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav, criticised Modi government for focussing on the wrong thing:

Deputy CM of Bihar, Tejaswi Yadav,  also condemned the PM in a rally in Agra for displaying ‘insensitivity’:

“Such a tragic train accident takes place and the Prime Minister is addressing a rally in the same state where more than 100 passengers have lost their lives- this is something that cannot be digested.”

“PM was lavishing praises on himself in the state where so many people were killed in the train accident”. 

(The above was retweeted by Lalu Prasad Yadav)

Shivpal Yadav also attacked Modi government for being a complete ‘failure’ when it came to preventing the rail accident.  

A similar personal attack on the PM and BJP was mounted by Mayawati: 

Congress Opposition leaders joined in the blame game, even as chief Sonia Gandhi expressed condolences. 

Congress leader Madhu Yashki Goud called an utter ‘failure of the railway minister’, demanding an explanation from the ruling party on behalf of the Congress party. Hindustan Times quoted his as saying: 

“Prime Minister is busy travelling to Japan and talking about bullet trains but during his tenure ignored the safety of the railways.” 

Minister of State for railways, Manoj Sharma, has ordered a high level probe into the accident. Three National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been deployed for carrying out rescue missions in the accident site. He, along with railway Minister Suresh Prabhu visited the site of the accident earlier. 

The incident is expected to turn onto an electoral talking point in the upcoming UP state elections. 

Feature Image Source: Twitter/@iluvPatna