Adityanath remark on migrant workers misleading, anti-Dalit: Congress

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had on Monday taken on Mr. Adityanath over his remark that 75% of U.P. workers returning from Mumbai were infected

Migrant labourers on their way to Uttar Pradesh. File.

The Congress on Tuesday accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of targeting Dalits by saying that a large proportion of migrant workers returning home to the State are infected with coronavirus .

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had on Monday taken on Mr. Adityanath over his remark that 75% of U.P. workers returning from Mumbai were infected, questioning the math.

In a video clip, Mr. Adityanath was also heard saying that 50% of workers returning from Delhi have coronavirus and 25-30% from other states are similarly infected.

On Tuesday, All India Congress Committee (AICC) office bearer P.L. Punia said Mr. Adityanath’s misleading statement could lead to social hatred .

He said most migrant workers are Dalits or belong to backward castes .

This statement by the Chief Minister would send a message among people that they are bringing the disease with them. This amounts to conspiring against Dalits and backward persons, said Mr. Punia, who is the in-charge at AICC for Chhattisgarh.

Congress legislature party leader Aradhana Misra also questioned the statistics.

She said according to the government a little above 6,000 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the state, but going by what Mr. Adityanath said the figure should be 10 lakh.

Ms. Gandhi had made a similar point on Twitter.

Ms. Misra said if there is any truth in the CM’s claim, the government needs to undertake testing with transparency and tell people about its preparedness to deal with the situation.

Mr. Punia also attacked the government for the arrest of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Kumar Lallu , claiming he has been punished for serving poor labourers.

The Yogi government is doing injustice to our leader and this will not be tolerated, he said.

Mr. Lallu was booked for cheating and forgery over a list of buses on which the Congress had recently offered to bring migrant workers to Uttar Pradesh.

The U.P. government had claimed that a large number of buses lacked insurance papers and fitness certificates. Several registration numbers in the list were not even buses, it said during the row with the Congress.