Passengers wait for the Vailankani Express train at the Margao railway station on Monday morning.
MARGAO
It was around 9.30 am on Monday. Platform No 2 of the Margao railway station saw an unusual hustle and bustle as passengers with luggage anxiously awaited for the train. It was only after the Vasco-Vailankani Express chugged at the Margao Railway station realization dawned that the passengers were mostly pilgrims heading to the pilgrim centre of Our Lady of Vailankani in Tamil Nadu.
The weekly Vasco-Vailankani Express train runs every Monday, carrying hundreds of pilgrims from Goa to the pilgrim centre in Tamil Nadu. Monday’s train journey, however, came under spotlight as the passengers embarked on the pilgrimage on the eve of the May 7 Lok Sabha for the two Goa seats.
The pilgrimage also came under sharp focus that hundreds of pilgrims have embarked on the pilgrimage to Vailankani despite the fact that religious leaders had made a fervent plea to pilgrims to postpone the journey and stay put in Goa to discharge their Constitutional right and duty to cast votes in the election.
Pilgrims, on the other hand, maintained that they had booked the train tickets to Vailankani well in advance months ago, taking advantage of the school vacation. “We had booked the tickets around four months ago. At that time, we had no indications that the Lok Sabha election for the two Goa seats would be held on May 7. Since the pilgrimage was planned coinciding with the school vacation, we decided to carry on the journey and miss the date with the May 7 election”, remarked a pilgrim.
Sources in the know say the many passengers had boarded the Vailankani Express at Vasco and when the train chugged in at the Margao railway station, the train had almost run full to its capacity.
Konkan railway officials said they have no exact number of the number of passengers travelling on the Vailankani Express on Monday, but hastened to that the weekly Vailankani Express train normally runs to its capacity.
It could not be confirmed whether any of the passengers had cancelled the train journey after the Election Commission of India had announced May 7 poll date for the two Goa Lok sabha seats, more so after the advisory issued by the religious leaders to postpone the pilgrimage and instead cast their vote in the Lok Sabha election.
