Opposition parties in Maharashtra have lashed out against the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in the state after an accident involving two local trains in Thane district, resulting in passengers falling off. Following the tragic incident, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders demanded the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Opposition parties, including the Congress, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, stated that the incident exposed the lack of safety mechanisms of the railway network.

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Former Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar, who is presently a senior leader of the Uddhav-led Shiv Sena, demanded the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

“This incident is unfortunate, but not new—such incidents have happened in the past. We don’t know whether he is the Rail Minister or ‘Reel Minister’. He does not focus on the real issues of the railways. It is unfortunate,” Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray said.

“Once again, the lack of safety in Mumbai’s train networks has been exposed. We have raised this issue several times in Parliament as well. The Mumbai train networks—be it suburban or long-distance ones—need a proper policy for crowd management. The railways need better actual management, not just image management through reels. We demand a probe,” Mumbai Congress President Varsha Gaikwad said.

Sharad Pawar-led NCP MP Supriya Sule said, “Since the train was very crowded, these passengers were hanging from the doors. Travelling in such a manner is dangerous. It is a humble request to citizens—please do not travel dangerously. Along with this, the railway administration should also take measures to plan the crowd and prevent possible damage.”

Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi founder Prakash Ambedkar said, “This should never have happened in the first place had the Indian Railways paid attention to the safety of the passengers rather than social media reels. I strongly urge a thorough and transparent inquiry into the incident to uncover the full truth and ensure accountability at every level. All necessary support—financial and medical—should be immediately extended to the families of those who lost their lives, as well as to those who suffered injuries.”

“On average, seven people have been dying every day for many years in the Mumbai Suburban railway system. This is a national disgrace. Mumbaikars’ lives are cheap. The Railway Minister is incompetent and is busy making reels,” AAP Mumbai Working President Ruben Mascarenhas said.

MNS President Raj Thackeray said, “I have been saying for years that the railways have collapsed due to the influx of people coming from outside our cities. Currently, the railways are in a state of disarray. Traffic is in a state of disarray. There are no roads for vehicles and no sidewalks for pedestrians. We don’t know who is coming or going in our cities. Just starting the metro in the cities will not solve the problems. Mumbai has a metro, everything is there, yet has the registration of new vehicles stopped? No, it hasn’t. So, who exactly is using the metro? The influx of people coming from outside has caused havoc in the state. No one is ready to look into this.”

“Everyone is only involved in the elections. The condition of cities has worsened; no one is ready to see them as cities. If we talk about cities, it has no value in the media. For the past several days, we have been running news about Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray. Are you going to run so much news on the railway incident now? Why should we give importance to it? I don’t understand. I think the central government should pay attention to all these things,” Raj said.

“If you see the daily rush on the railway platform, how do people enter the railway compartment? And how do they come out? The question is, I have also travelled by train. The number of people has not increased recently, the government is aware of the population. So what do they do as Railway Ministers? If Railway Ministers do not resign, they should go there and see what the situation is. If doors are installed on local trains, people will suffocate and die inside. You have no idea how crowded the railway compartment is. One place is needed to go out, one place is needed to go in. However, there is nothing; it is all chaos,” Raj Thackeray said.

“People are not valued in our country. The government should pay immediate attention to the train accident. If such an incident had happened in another country, how would they view it? All our ministers go abroad, what do they bring from there? Don’t bring their railways here, but at least bring their ideas here,” Raj Thackeray said.