Panaji, Sep 30 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take over the railway portfolio, instead of making hollow boasts of efficiency, state Congress president Shantaram Naik said on Friday.

In a statement issued here, the former Rajya Sabha member also questioned the expenditure of thousands of crores of rupees on the bullet train project when existing railway infrastructure was in a bad shape.

"The railway portfolio should be taken over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- who always boasts of his efficiency and goes on giving lectures to even world leaders -- and prove himself," Naik said in his statement, soon after a stampede at Mumbai's Elphinstone Road Railway Station left at least 22 dead and dozens of commuters injured.

"If Modi takes over the railway, he will have to judge himself on merits and resign as Prime Minister if any major railway tragedy takes place," he also said.

Naik further said: "A Prime Minister, who thinks of taking loan worth (thousands of) crores of rupees to launch a bullet train when the railway infrastructure is crying for help and hundreds of thousands of citizens in the country are sleeping on railway platforms and footpaths, has no right to be in the office".