Motihari, Aug. 21: BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi visited Chiknauta village today to console the family members of those who lost their kin in the Muzaffarpur-Dehra Dun Rapti Ganga Express and autorickshaw collision on Monday.

Accompanied by BJP Bettiah MP Sanjay Jaiswal and Sheohar MP Rama Devi, the former deputy chief minister assured the family members of the victims that efforts would be made to replace the manual gates with automatic ones.

“It is clear that the accident was a result of gross negligence on part of the railways which had deputed an untrained employee at a level crossing. The employee was incompetent to shoulder such a big responsibility,” Modi said.

He also demanded stern departmental action against the erring railway officials who were “somehow or the other responsible for the accident”.

Later, Modi with the two MPs, met the other family in Khartari village under Chiraiya block of the district. The family lost seven members in the same accident.

In course of his Motihari visit, Modi also met reporters at the circuit house and recounted the achievements of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government in its 85-day governance so far.

Slamming the JDU, Modi said: “The state government has lost its mandate. Crime has increased manifold under the present government, which has lost grip over the administration. The people of Bihar can never forgive Nitish Kumar, who was voted to power to fight the jungle raj. But against people’s expectations, Nitish preferred to sit in the lap of Lalu Prasad once again, trying to push the state back to the black era.”