A day after the news reports of a berth being reserved for lord Shiva in Kashi-Mahakal Express went viral, the Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday clarified that neither the train was reserved on the basis of religion nor will be reserved in future.
Minister told that some of the Railway employees in the train had kept the picture of Lord Shiva out of their devotion during the inaugural run of the train.
He further said there were no passengers on the train at that time, as it will be operational for the public from February 20.
Minister also said people often keep pictures of lord Ganesh and Sai Baba with them when they travel and also offer prayers. Similarly, people also offer namaz while traveling on trains and nobody stopped them.
Goyal also slammed All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi for his comments on the seat being reserved in the train.
Yesterday, the AIMIM chief had tweeted a photograph of the Preamble of the Constitution to the Prime Minister’s Office over the news of temple on the train.
Minister had advised Owaisi to check the facts before tweeting.
In the third IRCTC run train named Kashi Mahakal Express from Varanasi to Indore, one seat number 64 in B5 coach has been reportedly reserved for Lord Shiva.
The train which will be operational from February 20 will connect three Jyotirlingas, Omkareshwar near Indore, Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain and Kashi Vishwanath in Varanasi.