Priyanka Gandhi, UP Govt 'War Of Letters' Over Buses For Migrants, Here's What Has Happened So Far

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had proposed that the Congress party would run buses for ferrying migrant workers if the UP government granted permission for the same. But after the state government's approval, both the parties have been engaged in a war of words.

File Photo: PTI

New Delhi: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Uttar Pradesh government seem to be in a bitter war of words as both have been writing letters to each other over the buses arranged for taking migrant workers to their homes. A total of 9 letters have been exchanged between them with the latest one being penned by Priyanka Gandhi on Tuesday afternoon. Meanwhile, the buses that were supposed to pick workers from Ghaziabad and Noida were stuck at the UP border as of 4 p.m. on Tuesday. According to the letter by Priyanka Gandhi's office, the UP government has still not allowed the buses to enter the state. Supriya Shrinate, Priyanka Gandhi's close aide, said now RTO is putting pressure on the bus owners to withdraw their buses. The issue began when Uttar Pradesh government on Monday had accepted the Congress' offer to run 1,000 buses to bring migrant labourers back to the state, a proposal that triggered a war of words between the two sides. Priyanka Gandhi's private secretary Sandeep Singh revealed a letter was received from the UP official at 11.40 pm Monday night via email, in which it has been stated that 1,000 buses with all documents be handed over at Lucknow by 10 am on Tuesday. "In a situation when thousands of workers are walking on the streets and thousands of people have gathered at the UP borders at various registration centres, sending 1,000 empty buses to Lucknow is not only a waste of time and resources but is also inhuman and the product of an anti-poor mindset," Singh said in a letter to Additional Chief Secretary Avneesh Kumar Awasthi. "This demand of your government seems politically motivated. It does not seem that your government wants to help our labourer brothers and sisters who are facing a disaster," the letter said. The state government had asked Priyanka Gandhi, who had made the offer, to provide it with a list of buses along with the names of their drivers and conductors. Subsequently, Priyanka Gandhi's private secretary Singh had given details of the buses and its drivers to the UP government in an email. "All details of the 1,000 buses are attached to this e-mail. Out of them, a few drivers will be reverified and those details will also be mailed to you in a few hours. I hope you will give permission for those buses to ply as soon as possible," Singh had said in the communication to the UP government on Monday. Meanwhile, the UP government has alleged that some numbers of the buses have turned to be of autos and bikes. The claim has been vehemently denied by the Congress which said that there may be some discrepancies. On May 16, the Congress leader had written to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, seeking permission to run 1,000 buses at her party's expense - 500 buses from Ghazipur border in Ghaziabad and 500 buses from Noida border to help the stranded migrant labourers reach home. The party had then accused the BJP-run UP government of ignoring the offer. A little later on Twitter, Priyanka Gandhi, who is the Congress general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, had thanked Adityanath for accepting the proposal. She had said the Congress will stand with these people during the difficult time they face. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH: Blame game b/w UP govt & Congress for providing buses to migrants | Samvidhan Ki Shapath