Published 20:09 IST, May 19th 2020
Priyanka Vadra alleges 'Cong buses blocked at UP border'; concedes less than 1000 arranged
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday requested the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government to allow 897 buses arranged by her party to run.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday requested the Uttar Pradesh government to allow 897 buses arranged by her party to run. 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 her, state Congress chief Ajay Singh Lallu and other party officials are seen talking to UP police officials demanding the buses to be allowed entry into 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 breathing their last while walking on the road.
Congress-UP government 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. However, Vadra's private secretary Sandeep Singh stated that sending empty buses to Lucknow was "inhuman" at a time when thousands of workers had gathered at the borders of UP.
Thereafter, UP Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Avanish Awasthi asked the Congress party to send 500 buses each to Kaushambi, Sahibabad bus stands in Ghaziabad, and the ground near the Expo Mart in Gautam Buddh Nagar where they will be handed over to the respective District Magistrates. Singh again wrote back, remarking that it would be possible for Congress to send the buses only by 5 pm on Tuesday. Meanwhile, UP Minister Sidharth Nath Singh revealed that many two-wheelers, auto-rickshaws, and good carriers were in the list of buses submitted by the Congress party. He called upon Congress president Sonia Gandhi to explain why they were committing this "fraud".
Updated 20:09 IST, May 19th 2020