Asaduddin Owaisi reacts to temple being installed in Kashi-Mahakal Express, call for PM Modi's attention
Reports of a seat on the Kashi-Mahakal Express launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi being reserved for Lord Shiv gave way to wordless jibe on Twitter from AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi, who shared a picture of the preamble tagging the Prime Minister’s Office.
According to reports seat number 64 of coach B5 in the Kashi-Mahakal Express, which links three Jyotirlingas in two states, has been turned into a mini-temple devoted to Lard Shiva.
Pictures displays an upper berth transformed into a temple with railway staff praying before it. The seat would be left unoccupied for the deity, railway spokesperson Deepak Kumar was quoted by the PTI as saying.
Asaduddin Owaisi, the Lok Sabha MP, reacted to the image on Monday morning.
Sir @PMOIndia https://t.co/HCeC9QcfW9 pic.twitter.com/6SMJXw3q1N
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) February 17, 2020
The Railway today stated that any ‘prayers’ offered to the deity were only a ‘one time affair’.
"There is going to be no such reserved or dedicated berth for this purpose in the commercial run of the train," news agency ANI quoted the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) as saying on Monday.
The Kashi-Mahakal Express links Omkareshwar (near Indore), Mahakaleshwar (Ujjain) and Kashi Vishwanath (Varanasi) Jyotirlingas.
The train was launched by PM Modi through a videoconference. The service will commence from Thursday. The spokesperson stated that a seat had been held for a deity for the first time on any train.
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First published: 17 February 2020, 18:07 IST