New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asserted on Sunday that the government's intentions for Indian Railways are geared solely towards the wealthy and that trusting Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a "guarantee of betrayal". Gandhi claimed in a Hindi post on X that by displaying the desire to let those wearing 'hawai chappal' (slippers) travel by 'hawai jahaz' (aeroplane), Prime Minister Modi is removing them from 'gareebon ki sawari' (vehicle of the poor) trains.
"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 the 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.
With PTI inputs