UP Congress demands CM Yogi’s resignation over death of migrant workers in road accident

Accusing the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh of being insensitive towards the plight of migrants, the state unit of the Congress on Saturday demanded Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's resignation over the death of 24 labourers in a road accident in Auraiya.

At least 24 migrant workers were killed and 36 injured when a trailer rammed into a stationary truck, both carrying passengers, on a highway near Auraiya in Uttar Pradesh in the early hours of Saturday.

UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said, "The chief minister should resign. This government is insensitive towards the (plight of) migrant labourers. Where have all the buses gone, which the UP Government claims have been pressed into service to send the migrant labourers home? The entire country is seeing this."

"The accident is very unfortunate and saddening. I express condolence for the loss of lives, and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured persons," he told PTI.

Some of the workers coming from Delhi had stopped for tea when the accident occurred between 3 am and 3.30 am on the Auraiya-Kanpur Dehat stretch of National Highway 19, police said.

The impact of the collision, the latest in a series of road tragedies involving migrant workers returning to their villages, was so huge that both vehicles overturned and fell into a ditch.

Most of those killed were from Jharkhand and West Bengal, and some from Kushinagar in eastern Uttar Pradesh, officials said.

Lallu also said, "Yesterday the UP chief minister had said that buses have been pressed into service so that migrant labourers can reach their homes. He has been saying this for some time, but then who is responsible for this accident. The chief minister is responsible for the accident."

The UP government meted out inhuman treatment to the migrant labourers by compelling them to walk home, he said and demanded Rs 20 lakh ex gratia for the kin of the deceased and Rs 5 lakh to the injured.