Sanjay Raut criticises Amit Shah’s remarks on Ahmedabad air crash

Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP and official party spokesperson Sanjay Raut has criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement regarding the Ahmedabad air crash which took place on Thursday.

“Accidents cannot be prevented, but the administration’s preparedness is tested during such times. Gujarat has handled the emergency remarkably well,” Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said after visiting the spot of the air crash.

Advertisement

Reacting to Shah’s statement, Raut told media persons on Friday, “After the accident yesterday, Amit Shah visited the spot and said ‘it was an accident, accidents cannot be prevented’. I want to ask him that you cannot prevent accidents, you cannot prevent the terrorist attack in Pahalgam. Then why are you in power? No one is safe in your state (government). Train passengers are not safe, air passengers are not safe. Tourists in Pahalgam are not safe. The people in Manipur are not safe. So who is really safe in your state? Amit Shah should answer these questions”.

Raising the question of who will take responsibility for this accident, Sanjay Raut said, “Everyone is shirking responsibility. Someone has to take responsibility for this incident. The Union Civil Aviation Minister or the Prime Minister should take responsibility for this accident. Even after several train accidents in Mumbai and the country, the Railway Minister (Ashwini Vaishnaw) did not take responsibility. Union Home Minister Amit Shah did not take any responsibility for domestic attacks. After US President Donald Trump threatened, we stopped the Operation Sindoor campaign. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not take any responsibility for that failure. Then what kind of state are you BJP people running?”

“A terror attack took place in Pahalgam. Tourists are not safe but the Home Minister (Amit Shah) does not take responsibility. People fell from a train in Mumbai and died, but the Railway Minister (Ashwini Vaishnaw) did not take responsibility. A passenger jet crashed after take off in Ahmadabad but the Civil Aviation Minister (Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu) did not take responsibility. Look at the situation in Manipur. Nobody has taken responsibility,” Raut said.

“When the Dreamliner was being inducted, BJP had raised questions. (Ajit Pawar-led NCP’s) Praful Patel was the then Civil Aviation Minister. But today everybody is silent. Dreamliner is supposed to be a top-of-the-line passenger jet. But in Ahmedabad, it crashed in just 30 seconds. Someone has to take the responsibility or not?” Raut asked.

“Many of the people who died hailed from Maharashtra. The majority of the crew were from Mumbai and its neighbouring cities,” Raut said.

When it was pointed out that Prime Minister Modi himself rushed to Ahmedabad to console the people, Raut said, “Yes, I have seen the photos and the videos. But in fact Uddhav was the first to console people. Our (Worli MLA) Aaditya (Thackeray) even cancelled his birthday celebrations,” Raut said.

“What has happened is painful. Air India once had the image of Maharaja. Tomorrow questions will be asked about civil aviation safety in India. The 242 on board included 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian citizen,” Raut said.

“After the technicians gave permission for the plane to fly after the inspection, the plane took off, then within 30 seconds both the plane’s engines shut down, how did this happen? What exactly went wrong? This will be investigated. Something will come out of that investigation, maybe the truth will come out. But who will take responsibility for these 265 deaths? 242 people on the aircraft were killed along with doctors and students where the plane crashed. Around 265 people have died. Who will take responsibility for their deaths?” Raut asked.