New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday termed as “false” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement in Parliament where he said the AAP government asked migrant workers to leave the national capital during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Congress and Shiv Sena leaders have also challenged the remarks.
In his Lok Sabha address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had accused the Delhi and Maharashtra governments of overcoming the migrant crisis seen in the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Read also | PM Modi in Lok Sabha: Congress’s policy is ‘divide and rule’, become ‘leader of tukde-tukde gang’. Highlight
Sharing a clip of PM Modi’s Lok Sabha speech, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal termed his statement as “completely wrong”.
“The statement of the Prime Minister is completely false. The nation expects that the Prime Minister will be sensitive to those who have suffered the pain of the COVID-19 pandemic and who lost their loved ones at that time. It does not suit the PM on the suffering of the people. Join politics,” he tweeted in Hindi.
This statement of Prime Minister is completely false. The country hopes that the Prime Minister will be sensitive to those who have suffered the pain of the Corona period, those who have lost their loved ones. It does not suit the Prime Minister to do politics on the sufferings of the people. pic.twitter.com/Dd4NsRNGCY
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) 7 February 2022
PM Modi had claimed that the Delhi government went to residential areas, made announcements over the microphone, where it asked people to leave the city.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera also responded to PM Modi’s allegations related to the party, citing the nationwide lockdown imposed in 2020.
“You are the Prime Minister of the country! Coming at 8 pm, you announced the lockdown by giving 4 hours time. You did not think about the daily wage laborers. If there was a little humanity, you would not have said one thing, Pawan Khera in Hindi Tweeting further said that the Prime Minister should have apologized to the migrant workers.
In a series of tweets, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also lashed out at the lockdown and the work of the Maharashtra government in helping daily wage labourers.
“4 hours before the lockdown was announced, trains halted, interstate travel stopped. Migrants – mainly daily wage laborers were stranded. If taking care of them – with food and shelter was wrong in the eyes of the PM, it was a mistake 100 times more.. for humanity,” she wrote.
When Shramik trains started, can the country forget how these poor laborers without income were being charged for tickets, the state government stepped in to pay their fare. If this is a mistake in the eyes of the PM, then ready to make this mistake 100 times.
— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) 7 February 2022
“When Shramik trains started, can the nation forget how these poor laborers without income were being charged for tickets, the state government stepped in to pay their fare. If this is a mistake in the eyes of the PM So committed this mistake is over 100 times,” the Shiv Sena MP said.
PM Modi’s speech in Lok Sabha
Recalling the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, PM Modi hit out at the opposition-led state governments, citing the example of Maharashtra and Delhi.
During the first wave, when people were following the lockdown and COVID norms, the Congress was standing at the Mumbai station and intimidating innocent laborers to flee to their native states, he said. He said, “You have committed a great sin.”
“During the first wave of COVID-19, you (Congress) gave free train tickets to migrant workers to leave Mumbai. Also, the Delhi government asked migrant workers to leave the city and provided them buses. As a result, COVID-19 Rapidly spread in Punjab, UP and Uttarakhand,” the Prime Minister said.
The remarks came after the Prime Minister replied to the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in the Lok Sabha in the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament.
(with agency input)
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