UP Dy CM Dinesh Sharma accuses Congress of playing politics in times of crisis

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister on Wednesday accused the Congress of doing politics at a time of intense crisis, saying this has never been done before by a major political party. "There are no buses of the Congress party. These buses belong to the Rajasthan government. Doing politics in times of such an intense crisis was never ever done by a major political party," Sharma told reporters here.

Of the 1,049 buses mentioned in a list given by the Congress, around 460 were found to be "fake", he said. A UP government spokesperson said these buses were unfit to ply on roads.

Sandeep Singh, the private secretary to Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, said the buses have been stopped by the Uttar Pradesh Police at the Agra border, claiming that it also misbehaved with UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu. In a letter to UP's Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Information) Awanish Awasthi, Singh said the Congress will remain present at the border along with the buses till 4 pm.

"We hope that there will be a positive answer from your side in extending help to the labourers," he said in the letter. Deputy Chief Minister Sharma claimed that 297 vehicles mentioned in the list were virtually junk.

"Should we ply the unfit buses and put the lives of the migrant labourers at risk? There are 98 three-wheelers, cars, ambulances in the list. Around 68 vehicles in the list do not have proper papers (registration and insurance)," he said. Sharma also asked how the resources of a state government could be utilised by a political party.

"Can any political party use the buses of the Rajasthan State Roadways Transport Corporation for its own? How can the resources of a state government be utilised by a political party? On what basis are these buses being run?" the dy chief minister asked. "Here, I want to ask them why Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot did not feel sad when our children were crying in Kota (the coaching hub) as they were not getting food, water and treatment? Where had his buses gone then," he said.

At that time, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued orders to run over 600 buses to bring back the students to UP and send them to their homes, and Gehlot was compelled to praise the UP CM, he said. Sharma said the action of the Congress was a political stunt aimed at deriving some mileage.

"If it (Congress) wants to help the migrant labourers of UP in other states, then they should send buses to Rajasthan, Punjab and Maharashtra, as people are being exploited. Why did it not send buses to Punjab and Maharashtra," he asked. The deputy CM said around 1,000 trains were made available to UP at the request of the chief minister, and more than 10 lakh migrant labourers have been brought back to the state by trains. Around 6.50 lakh migrants came in buses, he said, adding that over 27,000 buses had been pressed into action by the state government.

"The Congress has duped the migrant labourers and kept the UP government in the dark. It should tender an apology for providing a wrong list of buses and wasting the time of the government. They also conspired to put the lives of the migrant labourers at risk and hence, tender an apology to the labourers. Are these Transport Department buses the private property of the Congress party? The resources of a state government cannot be used by a political party," Sharma said. Reacting to the comments made by the deputy CM, UP Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh told PTI that if anyone is doubtful about the buses sent by the Congress party, then he/she can do a physical verification of the buses.

"It will clear all the doubts once and for all. This is a classic example of dirty politics," he added..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)