This Article is From May 21, 2020

"Cruel Joke": Uttar Pradesh Rebel Congress MLA Slams Party Over Bus Row

In a series of tweets in Hindi, Rebel Congress MLA Aditi Singh said most of the buses arranged by the Congress for the migrants were small vehicles.

'Cruel Joke': Uttar Pradesh Rebel Congress MLA Slams Party Over Bus Row

Aditi Singh praised Yogi Adityanath for rescuing students from the state who were stranded in Kota (File)

Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh:

Rebel Congress MLA from Raebareli Aditi Singh on Wednesday lashed out at her own party for playing "cheap politics" over the issue of Priyanka Gandhi arranging 1,000 buses to ferry stranded migrant labourers to their homes amid the nationwide lockdown.

"When the Uttar Pradesh government looked into the list of buses provided by Congress, it turned out that many vehicles are autorickshaws, two-wheelers and three-wheelers. Congress is wasting the time of government officials by providing bogus list and creating political pressure," Ms Singh told media persons.

In a series of tweets in Hindi, Ms Singh said most of the buses arranged by the Congress for the migrants were small vehicles.

Terming it as a "cruel joke", she went on to praise Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath Yogi for rescuing students from the state who were stuck in Rajasthan's Kota.

"What is the need for this cheap politics during the time of such crisis? Sent a list of 1,000 buses, but there is a fraud in more than half buses. 297 buses are junk, 98 of them are auto-rickshaws and ambulance-type vehicles, 68 vehicles are without any papers. What a cruel joke is that? If you have buses, then why did you not send them to Rajasthan, Punjab and Maharashtra?" she questioned her own party.

"When thousands of Uttar Pradesh children were stranded in Kota, where were these so-called buses? At that time, the Congress government could not even leave these children till the border. Then Yogi Adityanath rescued them overnight by buses and took them to their houses safely. Even Rajasthan Chief Minsiter had praised the effort," she tweeted.

Meanwhile, Aditi Singh has been suspended from the position of General Secretary of Congress women's wing, said sources.

"Due to anti-disciplinary actions, Raebareli constituency MLA Aditi Singh has been suspended from the position of General Secretary of Congress women's wing," sources in the party told ANI.

She has been notified about the anti-disciplinary action and her response is awaited.

A complaint against Ms Singh is already pending with the UP Assembly Speaker. The party has also requested for the disqualification of her MLA status.

"This was decided at the time when she met with UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and attended the Assembly session against the party's will," added sources.

Earlier in the day, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma hit out at Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi over the issue of buses arranged by the Congress for stranded migrant workers, saying it is a "political stunt".

He further said that the condition of the buses provided by the Congress was "unfit" for ferrying people from one state to another.

However, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel said that the Uttar Pradesh government and the state administration were opposing party leader Priyanka Gandhi just because she wants to help the migrant labourers.

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