Congress accused Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of indulging in "cheap politics" by not allowing its buses to ferry migrants stranded at the borders.
Amid war of words over lakhs of migrant workers walking home on foot, the Congress's offer to provide 1,000 buses to ferry them home is seemed to have gotten entangled in a political dogfight.
While the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh alleged that the list of buses submitted by the Congress has registration numbers of scooters, three-wheelers and goods carriers, the opposition party accused Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of indulging in "cheap politics" by not allowing its buses to ferry migrants stranded at the borders.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala urged Adityanath to come to the aid of migrants and immediately grant permission to 1,000 buses made available by the Congress in this regard and not "create hurdles instead".
Accusing Adityanath of being insensitive and inhumane by embroiling migrants in cheap and petty politics, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala urged him to immediately grant permission to 1,000 buses made available by the Congress in this regard and not "create hurdles instead".
"Kindly put a stop on cheap politics and not be insensitive and inhumane towards the plight of migrants. Kindly allow buses to ply migrants home and help them instead of embroiling them in cheap and petty politics," Surjewala told a press conference through video conferencing.
There has been a back and forth exchange of communication over plying of 1,000 buses to ferry migrants home after Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's letter to Yogi.
After the Congress made available a list of buses, the Uttar Pradesh government sought their inspection in Lucknow and then at Gautam Budh Nagar and Noida.
These buses are currently stuck at UP-Rajasthan border near Agra as the Uttar Pradesh government was not allowing entry into the state. UP Congress chief Ajay Singh Lallu and other Congress leaders were engaged in arguments with UP Police officials near Bharatpur-Agra border, a video posted on party's social media account showed.
The Uttar Pradesh government has also alleged that some of the bus numbers given by the Congress are of two-wheelers and three-wheelers.
UP minister Sidharth Nath Singh said the Congress has no sympathy for the migrants and just wanted to politicise their issue, state minister Sidharth Nath Singh said.
"In the preliminary checking of the numbers, it has been found that the numbers mentioned in the list as that of buses are actually of scooters, three-wheelers and goods carriers," the minister said.
Meanwhile, Regional Transport Office (RTO) in Lucknow approved a list of 879 out of the list of 1049 buses, saying that the rest are three-wheelers, goods carriers and school buses.
UP Congress said the government can at least allow 879 buses to ply on the roads to help ferry migrant workers who are walking home.
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 "Buses stranded at UP-Rajasthan border near Agra")
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