Even as the row between the Congress party and the Uttar Pradesh government continues with regard to buses to ferry migrants to UP, the Rajasthan govt has sent a bill of Rs 36 lakh to the UP govt for some buses they had arranged last month. The Rajasthan govt is asking the UP govt to pay Rs 36,36,664/- for 70 buses that they had provided to transport students from Kota to UP last month.
Almost one after the Coronavirus Lockdown was imposed in the country, the Yogi Adityanath government had sent 560 buses to Kota to bring the students from UP to their home state. The UP govt was the first state to initiate steps to bring back their natives stuck in other states during the lockdown, which was done after students in Kota had sent desperate messages to the state govt asking to be brought back.
Accordingly, between 17 and 19 April, 560 buses sent by UP govt had returned with around 10 thousand students from Kota in Rajasthan. But after that more students from UP, who had not initially registered to return, demanded that they also want to go home. As a result, the UP govt decided to rent 70 buses from the Rajasthan Transport Corporation to carry the additional students. When the Corporation sought money for diesel, the UP govt had said that the same will be paid later. But as the Corporation didn’t agree to that, Rs 19.76 lakh was paid for the fuel, and the students recached home safely.
But now the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan has sent a bill of Rs 36,36,664/- to the UP government as rent for the buses from Kota to Agra and other places in UP. The letter sent to the UP state transport corporation asks the amount to be transferred through RTGS.
Congress is playing petty politics at the time of crisis
It is notable that this bill has been sent at a time when a political war is been going on between Congress party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi and UP government over buses to ferry migrants. After Priyanka Gandhi had offered 1000 buses to carry migrants from Rajasthan to UP, the Yogi govt had agreed to the offer. But when the Congress party submitted the list of buses for approval, it was found that the list also contains auto-rickshaws, trucks, ambulances, cars etc.
An FIR against Ajay Lallu and Priyanka Gandhi’s private secretary Sandeep Singh was filed at the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow for cheating and forging documents, and later Ajay Lally was arrested. Even before Congress party had submitted the list of buses, they had already run the buses and over 500 buses carrying migrants had reached UP border near Agra. As the buses were yet to be approved, the local admin didn’t allow them to enter the state, which created another conflict between Congress and UP govt. The Congress workers had staged a protest due to the same, after which Ajay Lallu was removed by UP police from the spot.
