UP Bus Row Intensifies: Yogi Govt Alleges List Of Buses Includes Cars, Autos, Scooters

Delhi: The politics over buses to ferry stranded migrants have intensified as the war of words between Congress and Yogi Adityanath government continues. On Monday, the Congress had accused the UP government of denying permission to buses for migrants arranged by the party to enter the state. A report by PTI says, that today the Uttar Pradesh government asked Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to submit a list of the buses to the district magistrates of Ghaziabad and Noida. In a letter written to Vadra's private secretary, UP's Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said, “Please provide 500 buses to the District Magistrate, Ghaziabad, by 12.00 noon. The DM Ghaziabad has been informed about this. The district administration will receive all the buses and utilize them.

The letter also said that the buses should be provided at Kaushambi and Sahibabad bus stands and that 500 buses should be provided to the District Magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar at the ground near the Expo Mart.

But it seemed that this has not been enough to end the war of words, as now the UP government has alleged that in the list of buses submitted by Congress there are registration numbers of cars, scooters, and autos and said that the party is indulging in 'fraud and forgery'.

The Uttar Pradesh Minister and government spokesman Siddhartha Nath Singh said "Congress president Sonia Gandhi should respond to the actions of her children, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi. It is unforgivable that a political party should resort to this kind of petty politics in the name of migrant workers. Congress owes an apology to the nation," he said.

The state Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu has retaliated by saying that while some numbers may be wrong, the party is committed to providing 1,000 buses.

The Congress has also wanted an extension of time and has said that the party will hand over 1000 buses by 5 PM instead of 12 PM as was asked by the UP government in a letter sent to Congress.

Report by IANS says that Sandeep Singh who is a personal aide of Priyanka Gandhi wrote to the Additional Chief Secretary saying that as the buses are in Delhi and Rajasthan they are still in the process of taking permits. "We received your letter at 11.05 a.m. to handover the buses at Ghaziabad and Noida. As a number of buses are in Delhi and Rajasthan, the process of taking permits is going on. So, we will need some more time to get the permit for these buses. As per your request, the buses will be handed over to the state government by 5 p.m"