Blatant lie: Opposition counters PM Modi's statement on migrants' exodus

New Delhi, Feb 07: The opposition on Monday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he accused the Congress and the AAP government for the spread of Covid by enabling the migrant labourers to go home after lockdown was declared in 2020.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal declared that the Prime Minister's statement was "blatant lies" and accused him of playing politics on the "sufferings of the people".

"The country hopes that the Prime Minister will be sensitive to those who have suffered the pain of the Corona period, those who have lost their loved ones," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.

Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for accusing the opposition of "inciting" migrants to flee Mumbai during the COVID-19 lockdown and said that if looking after the stranded was wrong then they would commit this mistake "a 100 times".

"Migrants, majorly daily wage labourers, were left stranded. If looking after them, with food and shelter, was wrong in the eyes of the PM, then (we) will make this mistake 100 times over ... for humanity," she said on Twitter.

Chaturvedi asked if the nation could forget the time when Shramik trains started, how the poor labourers, who were left with no income, were being charged for tickets and the state government stepped in to pay their fare.

"If that is a mistake in the eyes of the PM, (we are) willing to commit this mistake 100 times over," she said.She asked that when the trains requested by states were not given to them, and the issue was politicised by the then rail minister in sheer arrogance of control, should the citizens of this nation have been left alone? "Have some sensitivity, some humility to sufferings faced before making these comments.

"If the PM would have watched closely, he would have seen how these migrant labourers, on reaching their homes, were first sprayed with sanitisers in abject humiliation. Was raising voice against the sufferings a mistake? If yes, will commit such mistakes 100 times over," she said.

Chaturvedi, the Rajya Sabha MP of the Shiv Sena, said, "Last but not the least, the second wave was mismanaged because the central government was busy seeking votes at large rallies, disregarding preparations for scaling up beds, oxygen and medicines. It failed to stock vaccines. Have some honesty in discourse."