UP Lockdown: Priyanka Gandhi had said the buses are standing at the border for migrants. (File)
Two days after accusing Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of doing politics, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath agreed to her request to run 1,000 buses for migrant workers desperate to go home in the coronavirus lockdown. The UP government wrote to the Congress leader's office asking for details of the buses, their numbers and drivers' names.
Priyanka Gandhi, a Congress general secretary, had appealed to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on May 16 in a video message on the same day Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attacked her brother Rahul Gandhi for what she called "dramabaazi" after he interacted with migrants resting under a flyover in Delhi.
A day before Priyanka Gandhi's appeal, 24 migrant workers were killed when a trailer rammed a stationary truck - both had migrants -- on a highway near Auraiya in Uttar Pradesh.
"Respected chief minister, I am requesting you, this is not the time for politics. Our buses are standing at the border. Thousands of labourers and migrants are walking towards their homes without food or water and after fighting all troubles. Let us help them. Give permission to our buses," said Ms Gandhi Vadra.
In another tweet, she said, "Our buses are standing at the border. Thousands of nation-builders workers and migrants are walking in the sun. Give permission Yogi Adityanath ji. Let us help our brothers and sisters."
She also put out a video of empty buses waiting at the Uttar Pradesh border; she had asked the Congress to arrange the buses without waiting for UP's response to her appeal.
Rajasthan claimed the buses were not allowed to enter by the UP government.
Vishvendra Singh, Rajasthan Minister for Tourism, said the buses were stopped in Rajasthan close to the border with UP.
On Sunday, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma had taunted the Congress saying Priyanka Gandhi should ask Congress-ruled states to run more buses as those states had asked for fewer trains for the migrants.
"UP Government is competent and working efficiently for providing safe and secure journey to migrants. We have provided 200 buses to every district to facilitate the journey of migrants. 400 trains have been sanctioned by railway ministry for UP. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should deploy the said 1,000 buses in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Jharkhand as these states asked for fewer trains," Mr Sharma told news agency ANI.