2000 buses for Modi’s event in UP: Congress asks, “Where were the buses when migrants were returning?”

In what is being described as “blatant misuse of the state machinery for the political gain” it has come to the fore that Sultanpur District Magistrate has requested the Yogi government to arrange 2000 buses to ferry people for Prime Minister Modi’s Purvanchal Expressway inauguration ceremony on November 16.

Dated November 6, the letter that was sent to the director, Uttar Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) by the District Magistrate of Suktanpur says 2000 buses will be deployed to ferry people – of them, 70 per cent buses will be arranged by the Sultanpur district alone. Rest 30 per cent busses will be called from the adjoining districts – Ambedkar Nagar and Ayodhya.

As per the letter, the cost will be borne by the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA).

Modi will inaugurate the Purvanchal Expressway on November 16, and the inauguration ceremony will take place at the Sultanpur stretch of the 340.824 km-long expressway, said the UP government.

Talking to National Herald, Sultanpur DM Ravish Gupta accepted that he has sent the letter, asking UPSRTC to manage 2000 buses for Modi’s event. However, he said, “It should not be politicized as the event is being organized by the Air Force and a lot of people would like to join the ceremony,” said Gupta, adding, “Our aim to maintain order and discipline in PM's event.”

The inauguration of the Purvanchal Expressway, just before the assembly polls is being termed a “political stunt” by the opposition. Reacting to it, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said the Yogi government is misusing the “state machinery to gather crowd” so that “Modi can be pleased."

“This is unethical. What was the Yogi government doing when lakhs of migrants were walking on their foot to return to their homes? UP Congress had hired busses for the migrants,” said Lallu.

Echoing Lallu’s views, young Congress leader and head of the UP-minority cell, Shahnawaz Alam said that “an official letter is being sent to the DMs asking them to ferry people for Modi’s event…. this shows the mentality of the Yogi government”.

“For the Yogi government, workers, poor people, migrants, minorities do not hold any importance. They are used to fill the ground,” added Alam.

Purvanchal Expressway will connect Chand Saray village near Gosainganj in Lucknow district with Haydaria village on NH-31 in Ghazipur district, eastern Uttar Pradesh. The expressway would pass through nine districts connecting important cities like Varanasi, Ayodhya, Gorakhpur and Allahabad through link roads.

Note: This story was first published on 11November, 2021 and is being republished on 16 November, 2021, Purvanchal Expressway inaguration day.