"The gruesome mishap has only exposed the Railways' negligence over passenger safety issues," Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu said in a statement.
CPM politburo member B V Raghavulu pointed out that maintenance of trains had been poor because of privatisation in the name of outsourcing.
"It has put passengers' safety in peril. The Centre should immediately put an end to privatisation in Railways and entrust all works to regular staff to prevent such mishaps," he said.
The mishap on Tamil Nadu Express occurred because of poor maintenance of electrical system on the train, he alleged, adding, "Such a ghastly mishap never occurred in recent times."
Chandrababu and Raghavulu extended sympathies to the bereaved families and requested the government to pay adequate compensation to the victims' families.
"It is unfortunate that such a fire mishap took place causing human loss in the days of technical advancement and availability of quality safety measures," YSR Congress honorary president Y S Vijaya said in her statement.
Expressing "deep shock" over the incident, she demanded a thorough probe and preventive measures.
