New Delhi, May 20 (IANS): The politics over buses for ferrying migrants flared up yet again on Wednesday as the Congress brought over 500 vehicles near the Delhi-Noida border to hand them to the Uttar Pradesh government and accused the BJP of politicising the issue.
The buses arranged by the Delhi Congress have reached the DND flyway and are awaiting clearance from the UP government before entering the state. The party, however, alleged that the Gautam Buddha Nagar administration was not allowing the vehicles to enter.
Several senior Congress leaders -- Rajeev Shukla, Sushmita Deb, Delhi Congress chief Anil Kumar Chaudhary and Rajiv Satav -- have reached the flyway along with many others.
Speaking to IANS, Shukla said, "The UP government can not lose sight of these buses... the officials had first complained about incomplete papers involving these vehicles. However, as many as 879 buses now have their full papers. So, the buses should be allowed to transport the migrant workers."
The former Rajya Sabha MP said party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has already asked the BJP government to use, if that party wants to, their own banners and posters. "Then where is the problem?" Shukla asked, adding there were no motorbikes among the vehicles.
Speaking to IANS, Delhi Congress chief Chaudhary said: "We are waiting for the Uttar Pradesh government's permission. And as promised by Priyanka Gandhiji, we have come here with the buses to hand them to the state government.
He alleged that many buses are being sent back and the drivers and operators are being threatened. "More such buses have been parked at Agra's Ucha Nagla border since Tuesday morning. Last night when party leaders managed to move some of these vehicles to Noida, the police stopped them at Sector 39".
On Tuesday evening the UP government arrested state Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu along with several others after they sat in protest near the Agra border.
On Tuesday as the tiff escalated, Priyanka Gandhi, who is also in-charge of the eastern UP, said that out of 1,049 buses, 879 have been found fit by the state government and that the party would provide 200 more buses on Wednesday. She also urged the UP government not to delay the bus services for the stranded migrant workers willing to go back to their homes.