UP Congress President Ajay Lallu sent to 14-day judicial custody over migrant bus row

A Lucknow court on Wednesday, May 20 sent Uttar Pradesh Congress President Ajay Kumar Lallu to 14-day judicial custody after he was arrested for protesting over the issue of movement of buses arranged by Congress for migrant workers. He will be lodged in a temporary jail.  

An FIR was also filed against Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's personal secretary Sandeep Singh and Ajay Kumar Lallu in Hazratganj Police station of Lucknow on Tuesday. The police had removed UP Congress chief from the Agra-Rajasthan border in Uncha Nangla area where he staged a sit-in protest demanding that buses arranged to ferry back migrants to their homes, be allowed to enter the state.

"A case is being registered under sections 188 and 269 of IPC and Epidemic Act in the Fatehpur Sikri Police station in connection with the incident. Two persons - Ajay Kumar Lallu and Vivek Bansal - have been arrested," SSP Babloo Kumar said.

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Priyanka Vadra Alleges Buses Blocked At UP Border

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday requested the Uttar Pradesh government to allow 897 buses arranged by her party to enter the state. Mentioning that the migrant workers were in a lot of distress, she claimed that the UP administration had blocked more than 500 buses for several hours at the Uncha Nagla border.

In the video posted by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, state Congress chief Ajay Singh Lallu and other party officials are seen talking to UP police officials demanding the buses to be allowed entry the state. 

Moreover, Vadra added that more than 300 buses were on the way to the Delhi border. Conceding that only 897 out of the list of 1049 buses had been found authentic by the UP government after a probe, she promised that the Congress would send a new list of 200 buses on Wednesday. Highlighting that three days had been wasted in the political tussle, she contended that many migrant workers were struggling to reach home as they walked on the road. 

Congress-UP govt tussle over 1000 buses

On May 16, Priyanka Vadra wrote to UP CM Yogi Adityanath, urging him to permit the Congress party to run 1,000 buses to ferry migrant workers back to their native place. The UP administration accepted this request on Monday, asking the opposition party to send the buses to Lucknow by 10 am on Tuesday. 

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(With inputs from ANI)