The Congress party has been desperately trying to play politics during the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic and gain political mileage from the crisis it has unleashed in the country. The latest member to enter the fray was Randeep Surjewala. On Tuesday morning, Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala tweeted a heart-warming picture of a migrant worker, trying to lift a toddler atop a closed truck, amidst the Coronavirus lockdown. However, his tweet was accomapnied with a political message, “Modi ji, Inhi ko jahaz mein baithana ka sapna becha tha na.”
The loose translation of the caption goes as, “PM Modi, didn’t you sell them the dream of sailing on a ship?” In other words, Randeep Surjewala suggested that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is responsible for the distressed plight of the migrant worker. In the said picture, the man was handed the toddler by a woman standing by. The migrant worker held the baby in one hand and clutched the truck with his other hand.
मोदी जी,
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) May 12, 2020
इन्हीं को जहाज़ में बिठाने का सपना बेचा था ना! pic.twitter.com/QpABJiLh4Q
What is the Truth?
The desire of the Congress spokesperson to change political opinion through ‘poverty porn’ did not last long. A Twitter user, Intrepid Saffron, was quick to point out that the heart-warming picture of an impoverished migrant trying to put a child on top of a truck that is bound for their hometown, belongs to the Congress-ruled State of Chattisgarh.
His tweet was also accompanied by a Hindi news report that clearly states that the picture was clicked in Raipur, Chattisgarh. The Twitter user also took a light-hearted dig at Surjewala and told him to refrain from deleting his tweet. The archived version of the tweet can be accessed here.
फोटो छत्तीसगढ़ का है जहां कांग्रेस सरकार है
— Intrepid Saffron (@IntrepidSaffron) May 12, 2020
अब अगर ट्वीट डिलीट किया तो,तू दो बाप का https://t.co/wkYipxHuGd pic.twitter.com/itD3kcE8xE
According to an NDTV report, migrants and their families in Raipur, desperate to return to their homes, were scrambling to get on top of a truck. A old man travelling from Telangana said, “We are helpless. We have to go to jharkhand. We hitched a ride on a truck because there is no other way.”
A State Transport Department official, standing by the truck, conceded the failure on part of the Chattisgarh administration in arranging special buses for the migrant workers. “There are no other means of transport”, he sighed. The official also claimed that it was not possible for him to arrange the buses for the helpless workers. It must be mentioned that facilitating the hassle-free transportation of the stranded migrants is the responsibility of the State Government and not the Central Government.
Randeep Surjewala lies about Coronavirus tests
Last month, Randeep Surjewala brazenly lied through his teeth about the total number of tests conducted to ascertain coronavirus infection in the country. He said that as of 14th April 2020, India has conducted only 14,376 tests for coronavirus. However, the total number of tests conducted in India till Sunday, April 12, 2020, as per official figures, were 2,06,212. But, since Surjewala was predisposed towards criticising the government, he lowballed the total number of testing and arbitrarily came up with a deceptively low number.
