This is not time to play politics; allow Congress to ply buses to ferry migrants: Priyanka to UP CM

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra urged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath once again on Wednesday to allow her party to ply buses to ferry migrants to their homes amid the coronavirus-triggered lockdown, without playing politics over the issue.

In a 10-minute video message released on Congress social media handles, she said this is not the time to play politics but to help people, especially migrant labourers, suffering due to the lockdown.

She told Adityanath that the 1,000-odd buses made available by the party would remain where they are till 4 PM Wednesday and that he should use them and allow permission to ply them to help ferry migrants to their homes safely.

"I want to urge the chief minister that our buses will remain parked where they are at the borders (with Rajasthan) till 4 PM and it will be 24 hours since they were made available there.

"If you want to use them, kindly allow permission to us to ply them. If you want, you can paste your posters or banners on them, but kindly allow them to ply so that the migrants can be ferried in them and they reach home safely," she said.

She noted that till the time the issue got embroiled in politics, at least 92,000 migrants who are walking on the roads in this heat, without water and food, could have reached home safely by now.

"This is not the time to play politics. I urge every political party to set aside their political ideology and help people instead," she said.

In her message to migrant labourers, she said Congress workers and leaders are standing by their side in this time of crisis and will help them in every possible manner as per their capacity and provide them food too.

Thousands of migrants are walking to their homes amid the lockdown and the Congress party in UP and the UP government are locked in a tussle over plying of buses provided by the Congress for ferrying migrants home.