Rly staff force Goyal to leave function

Lucknow, November 16

Faced with angry rail employees, who raised slogans against him, Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal was on Friday forced to leave a function midway without addressing the gathering.

Despite the heavy deployment of police and Railway Protection Force, there was utter chaos at the function as the crowd went on the rampage. Trouble reportedly began as soon as the minister, speaking from the stage, criticised the employees’ union, accusing the general secretary of the All-India Railway Men’s Federation (AIRF), Shiv Gopal Misra, of instigating recruits who had completed apprenticeship. The AIRF is one of the biggest unions of railway workers in the country.

Sources claimed a flower pot was thrown at the minister. The sloganeering continued well after he left the venue with security personnel escorting him to his car. Some employees reportedly tried to stop the vehicle. — TNS