Lucknow: Hitting out at the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress and Samajwadi Party termed the death of 24 migrant workers in a road accident in Auraiya on Saturday “murders”, while the BSP asked parties in power to rise above petty politics and ensure the safety of migrants trying to return home amid the lockdown.
The Uttar Pradesh unit of the Congress accused the state government of being insensitive towards the plight of migrant workers and demanded Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s resignation over the incident.
At least 24 migrant workers were killed and 36 injured when a trailer rammed into a stationary truck, both carrying passengers, on a highway near Auraiya in Uttar Pradesh in the early hours of Saturday.
In a tweet, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav expressed sorrow over the deaths and prayed for the injured, and said, “Let’s see for how long those heartless people and their supporters would justify this negligence despite knowing everything. These are not deaths but murders.” He also announced that his party would give Rs 1 lakh to the family of each of the deceased.
He accused the BJP-led state government of being “pitiless” and urged it to take moral responsibility for the incident.
“The pitiless BJP government must take moral responsibility, and provide Rs 10 lakh to each of the family of the deceased,” Yadav said.
Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati asked Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to ensure that his directives on the safety of stranded labourers returning home were being implemented by the officials.
She asked parties in power at the Centre and different states to rise above petty politics in this hour of crisis and ensure the safety of the migrants trying to make their way home amid the coronavirus-forced lockdown.
The BSP supremo also asked the central and state governments and the Railways to be serious over the issue of sending migrants home safely.
UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu, too, said that it was “not an accident, but murder.”
“The chief minister should resign. This government is insensitive towards the (plight of) migrant labourers. Where have all the buses gone, which the UP Government claims have been pressed into service to send the migrant labourers home? The entire country is seeing this,” he said. (PTI)
