New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement in Parliament as "false" where he said that the AAP government asked migrant workers to leave the national capital during the first wave of Coronavirus pandemic.
Leaders of Congress and Shiv Sena have also challenged the remarks.
In his Lok Sabha address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had accused the Delhi and Maharashtra governments over the migrant crisis witnessed in the first wave of Coronavirus pandemic.
Sharing a clip of PM Modi's Lok Sabha speech, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal called his statement "completely false".
"The Prime Minister's statement is completely false. The country hopes that the Prime Minister will be sensitive towards those who bore the pain of the COVID-19 pandemic and those who lost their loved ones at that time. It doesn't suit the PM to indulge in politics over the suffering of the people," he tweeted in Hindi.
PM Modi had claimed that the Delhi government went to residential areas, making announcements on microphones where it asked people to leave the city.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera also responded to PM Modi's accusation pertaining to the party, citing the nationwide lockdown imposed in 2020.
"You are the Prime Minister of the country! Coming at 8 pm, you announced the lockdown by giving 4 hours' time. You didn't think about the daily wage workers. Had there been a little humanity, You would not have said such a thing," Pawan Khera tweeted in Hindi, further stating that the Prime Minister should have apologised to the migrant workers.
In a series of tweets, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also brought up the lockdown and emphasised the Maharashtra government's work in helping the daily wage labourers.
"4 hours before lockdown announced, trains stopped, interstate travel stopped. Migrants- majorly daily wage labourers were left stranded. If looking after them - with food and shelter was wrong in the eyes of the PM, then will make this mistake 100 times over .. for humanity," she wrote.
"When Shramik Trains started can the nation forget how these poor labourers who were left with no income were being charged for ticket, the state government stepped in to pay their fare. If that is a mistake in the eyes of the PM, willing to commit this mistake 100 times over," the Shiv Sena MP added.
PM Modi's Remarks In Lok Sabha
Recalling the first wave of Coronavirus pandemic, PM Modi hit out at the opposition-led state governments citing examples of Maharashtra and Delhi.
During the first wave, when people were following lockdowns and COVID norms, the Congress was standing at Mumbai Station and scaring innocent labourers into fleeing to their native states, he said. "You have committed a big sin," he added.
"During the first wave of COVID-19, you (Congress) gave free train tickets to migrant workers to leave Mumbai. At the same time, the Delhi government told migrant workers to leave the city and provided them with buses. As a result, COVID spread rapidly in Punjab, UP, and Uttarakhand," the Prime Minister stated.
The remarks came as the Prime Minister replied to the debate on Motion of Thanks to the President's address in Lok Sabha in the ongoing Budget Session of the Parliament.
(With Agency Inputs)