Gandhinagar, May 7 (IANS): The railway division police at Surat railway station on Thursday detained around 15 to 20 Surat Congress leaders and workers who had come to the railway station to flag off a train bound for UP's Sultanpur and for which the Congress party had paid the travel fare of around 1,100 migrant labourers.

DSP (Railways) Surat station on Thursday, detained around 15 to 20 Congress members of Surat Congress, including Surat Congress President Babubhai Rayka, Tapan Choghadiya, the Leader of Opposition Party (LOP) Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) and others.

The Congress members had come to the railway station to flag off a train carrying the migrant labourers, returning to their homes in UP. The official reason for the detainment is not yet known but according to sources the police had detained them for not having the necessary permission to do so.

"The ruling BJP party is rattled by the Congress move on Thursday. We had come here to flag off this train bound for Sultanpur. We had booked this entire train by paying Rs 9 lakh and availed travel fare for around 1,100 migrant workers and labourers, which did not go well down with the ruling BJP. And misusing the power and misusing the government mechanism they had us detained," said Choghadiya.

A couple of days back BJP parliamentarian from Surat, CR Patil had similarly flagged off a train, supported by BJP workers and supporters in large numbers gathered at the Surat railway station. There was no action taken against him or anybody for any issues like permission or social distancing.