Ajay Kumar Lallu, MLA and president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress, was released from jail on Wednesday. He spent almost a month in jail in connection with the showdown between the State government and his party over running of buses for migrant workers. Excerpts from a telephonic interview:
You were arrested on charges of allegedly sending a faulty list of buses to the U.P. government.
This government is scared, especially the Chief Minister. They have been constantly and unnecessarily misleading people. The 1,000 buses we offered could have been used to ferry 8-10 lakh people home by now. This government is against the workers, poor, Dalits, Backwards and oppressed [people], that’s why it took such a step.
The government argued that if it allowed the ‘unfit’ buses to run, it could have led to accidents, jeopardising the lives of migrant workers.
The government and its entire machinery lied the entire time. Rajasthan Deputy CM Sachin Pilot had signed and released a list of 1,032 buses verified by their MD. But the Yogi government deliberately mislead people and continues to betray them. This government is hurting workers, the poor and the oppressed and playing with their emotions. When workers were walking on the highways, what did Yogiji do to take them home? This is the same government that used lathi-charge on workers in Mathura, Agra, Noida and Jhansi borders.
Why do you think the U.P. government was not willing to accept even some of the buses sent by you, around 800-odd found operatively sound by their own parameters?
The Yogi government acted out of nervousness. Every hour they issued a new order (during the exchange of letters in May). This showed they were under pressure. And when buses were standing, waiting, they circulated in the media that they have provided us permission, but on the ground in Agra, the district magistrate clearly stated to us that the order was only visible on television channels and in actuality no such order was provided to them to allow our buses to go to Noida and Ghaziabad. They have been unmasked, that they have resorted to politics of oppression. But I will not be scared.
You are saying that there was no sync between the official letters being issued from Lucknow and the version of the District Magistrate on May 20?
They only played the orders on media. There was no written order sent to the DM of Agra or Mathura to allow permission to transport the buses. The buses stood at the border for three days.
While granting you bail, the Allahabad High Court said this entire episode was “disturbing” and reminded the government as well as the Opposition that they were duty bound to offer solutions and not conflicts to public grievances. Who is to blame more?
I would like to thank the High Court for granting me bail. This government wanted to oppress the voice and rights of the poor, the court order has made it clear and shown a mirror to the government.
