Laloo tries to woo Muslims, his ministry Deoband

While he woos Muslims in Bihar with the help of community scholars and leaders in the run-up to Round 2, Laloo Prasad’s Railway Ministr...

While he woos Muslims in Bihar with the help of community scholars and leaders in the run-up to Round 2, Laloo Prasad’s Railway Ministry has gone ahead and introduced from today a stoppage for the popular Jan Shatabdi train at Deoband, the renowned Islamic seat of learning near Saharanpur.

Orders were issued yesterday but the timing of the move is being questioned, considering that Laloo is going all out to prevent rivals from poaching on his Muslim votebank. Deobandi leaders are being enlisted by the RJD to keep intact Muslim votes in Bihar. ‘‘The Railway ministry has directed that the Delhi-Dehradun Jan Shatabdi should stop at Deoband in Uttar Pradesh. This will not come under the purview of the poll code of conduct which applies to Bihar,’’ said an official.

The Railway ministry is taking the line that this had been a long standing demand of politicians from the area.

Story continues below this ad

‘‘This was not being agreed to since it would mean an additional 45 minutes for the train to reach its destination. It defeats the very purpose of having a fast train like Jan Shatabdi,’’ said a Railway Ministry official.

Some 16 trains stop at Deoband daily. These include Express trains like Frontier Mail, Amritsar-Jalandhar Superfast, Nauchandi Express, Mumbai-Dehradun Express, Uttranchal Express and Mussoorie Express.

Rail Bhawan officials say that the Jan Shatabdi stoppage has been introduced for six months on an experimental basis. ‘‘If we notice that the response is not very warm or that it is causing the train to be delayed unreasonably, then we may cancel the stoppage,’’ an official in the traffic directorate said.

Another official, defending the move, said it was necessary for a train like Jan Shatabdi to stop at Deoband since the place is quite popular among scholars and tourists from other countries.

Story continues below this ad

‘‘It makes sense to have a good train stop at Deoband,’’ the official said. But he had no explanation when he was asked why the regular Shatabdi, running on the same route, did not have a halt in Deoband.

Bahraich faces new ‘wolf attacks’: 4 children mauled, 16 injured this month

Cities45 min ago

As many as four children have been killed and 16 injured in wild animal attacks, suspected to be wolves, in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich district this month — a chilling reminder of similar incidents that haunted the region last year. The body of one of the children is still missing. All those injured are adults, except for one child.

View all shorts

Live Blog

PHOTOS