Lucknow, May 19: Uttar Pradesh Minister Sidharth Nath Singh on Tuesday alleged that there were two-wheelers, auto-rickshaws and goods carriers in the list of buses sent by Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for migrants. "We have done preliminary inquiry and it has come to surface that out of the buses for which they sent details, many are turning out to be two-wheelers, autos and goods carriers," Sidharth Nath Singh claimed. Priyanka Gandhi Thanks UP CM for Permission to Run 1,000 Buses for Migrants to UP Govt.

"Congress president Sonia Gandhi should respond to the actions of her children, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi. It is unforgivable that a political party should resort to this kind of petty politics in the name of migrant workers," he added. Seeking an apology, the state minister said that the Congress deserved condemnation for this kind of "fraud and forgery".

Congress's Uttar Pradesh chief Ajay Kumar Lallu, however, maintained that the party is committed to providing 1,000 buses. He added that some numbers may have been wrongly written. Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi's personal secretary Sandeep Singh has written to the Uttar Pradesh government, stating buses to transport migrant workers will reach Noida and Ghaziabad at 5 pm today.

Priyanka Gandhi's Secretary Sandeep Singh's Letter to UP Govt:

The Yogi Adityanath government asked the Congress to deploy 500 buses at Kaushambhi bus station in Ghaziabad and 500 buses at Gautam Buddha Nagar near Expo Mart ground by noon to ferry the migrant workers. On Saturday, a political row ensued after Priyanka Gandhi extended an offer to run 1,000 buses for migrants to Uttar Pradesh. She also released a video, urging the Yogi Adityanath government to allow the buses with migrant labourers stranded on the state's borders to enter.

Priyanka Gandhi's Video Message:

The Congress, later, claimed that around 980 buses returned to Bharatpur, Alwar and other parts of Rajasthan after UP government did not allow entry to the state. "From last three days, Priyanka Gandhiji has been writing to the UP CM to allow buses in the state, but permission was not granted and after 12 hours the buses had to return," said UP Congress leader and former Union Minister Jitin Prasada.

On Monday, the Uttar Pradesh government released a letter sent to Priyanka Gandhi, accepting her offer of running 1,000 buses for migrant workers. Her personal secretary on Monday submitted details of the buses and its drivers to the UP government. Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had slammed the Congress for not submitting the list of buses and playing 'petty politics' on the migrant workers' issue. (With IANS inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 19, 2020 01:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).