After three days of political tussle, the buses hired by the Congress to ferry migrant workers to their hometowns returned from the inter-State border at Uncha Nagla in the Bharatpur district on Wednesday with the Uttar Pradesh government refusing permission to them to enter the State.
Congress leaders led by AICC secretary Zubair Khan reached the border point and made attempts throughout the day to communicate with the U.P. officials. They were flatly told that the buses would not be allowed unless the permission came from the highest level in Lucknow.
Ministers of State Subhash Garg and Bhajan Lal Jatav and MLAs Joginder Singh Awana from Nadbai, Wajib Ali from Nagar and Amar Singh from Bayana also reached the border. They waited till the evening and sent the buses back after getting a message from Jaipur.
The convoy comprised about 400 buses which were parked alongside the road for several kilometres. The private buses, sent after an offer was made by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, were kept waiting for three days amid a confrontation between the Congress and the U.P. government.
Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia accused the Congress of indulging in “dirty politics”.He said the party was showing concern for the people in other States, while the migrant workers in the States ruled by it were forced to walk. “The registration numbers of two-wheelers and three-wheelers in its list have exposed the attempts of the Congress to gain cheap publicity,” he said.
