New Delhi: The politics over sending of migrant workers through 1,000 buses arranged by Congress general secretary Priyanka Vadra Gandhi has intensified to a higher decibel as the Uttar Pradesh government, led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, is showing more interest in inquiring about the fitness certificates of the buses rather than chalking a strategy to utilise the vehicles for ferrying stranded workers in different parts of the state that has reported total 4,605 cases of Coronavirus.
The UP government, which had promised to ferry migrant workers through trains, buses, found indulging in blame-game by questioning the validity of buses' fitness certificates However, as the UP government's official communiqué, in the list of 1,000 vehicles, only 879 are buses while remaining others are autos, goods carrier, private vehicles, etc.
An FIR against UP Congress president Ajay Kumat Lallu and Priyanka Gandhi Vardra's personal secretary Sandip Sing has also been registered on the charges of providing the wrong information.
As per the latest update, all the buses are standing at state's border near Agra to Noida and Ghaziabad.
Earlier in the day, Congress attacked the UP government by accusing the BJP and Uttar Pradesh CM 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".
The Congress leader also accused the chief minister of being insensitive and inhumane by embroiling migrants in cheap and petty politics.
"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 reporters at a virtual press conference.
There has been a back and forth exchange of communication over plying of 1,000 buses to ferry migrants home, after the Congress made available a list of buses, but the Uttar Pradesh government sought their inspection in Lucknow and then at Gautam Budh Nagar and Noida.
Other opposition leaders –Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav –have also come in the support of Congress.
While taking on the BJP government, the Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said, "The people were wondering why thousands of buses were not being used by the state government to send the stranded migrant workers to their homes."
Suggesting Congress to send buses to Lucknow, BSP president Mayawati said that if the Congress has buses, it should send them to Lucknow, where a large number of people are waiting to go home.
Rejecting all the allegations of Opposition parties, BJP leader and minister Sidharth Nath Singh said that details of 1,000 buses sent by the Congress party included two-wheelers, autos and goods carriers numbers.