Railway Minister Piyush Goyal was slammed by a section of the Twitterverse on Sunday after he shared a video of India’s fastest train, Vande Bharat Express, showing the indigenously-manufactured train running at a high speed.
“It’s a bird…It’s a plane…Watch India’s first semi-high speed train built under ‘Make in India’ initiative, Vande Bharat Express zooming past at lightening speed,” the Union minister tweeted.
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While many were left amazed to see the train moving at a speed hardly seen ever before in India, there were others who pointed out that the video was apparently edited to make Vande Bharat Express appear to move faster than it actually is.
Some Twitter users said that the frame rate of the video was increased to make it look as if the train is blazing through the tracks.
The Congress mocked the video stating that the “only thing travelling at lightning speed are Mr. ‘Ghotala’s’ lies”, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who the party has been pointing fingers at over the Rafale deal.
Retweeting Goyal’s video, the Aam Aadmi Party directly attacked the Railway Minister.
“This way, @narendramodi’s minister @PiyushGoyal will deliver the #BulletTrain before 2019 elections. #BJPFoolingIndia,” the party tweeted from its official handle.
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien, too, joined in with a pun on the Union government’s ‘Make in India’ mission.
“#CheatIndia Exhibit 420,” he wrote on Twitter referring to the video shared by Goyal.
Other Twitter users took sarcastic jibes at the Railway Minister over the video.
One Twitter user also posted a video comparing the one posted by Goyal to another showing the train’s original speed.
Goyal did not respond to the criticisms and allegation that the speed of the video had been increased. On Monday, however, he posted another video of the train welcoming everyone to “witness its speed and record its inaugural run”.
Goyal had on 27 January announced that the indigenously-manufactured Train 18 will be known as Vande Bharat Express.
Vande Bharat Express will run at a maximum speed of 160 kmph. On 27 December last year, Goyal had shared a video showing the train running at a speed of 180 kmph. The train can run at a maximum speed of 200 kmph but it would require upgraded tracks and signals.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the train soon.