Hundreds of migrants were forced to return home on truck or on foot during first lockdown
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today accused opposition parties of contributing to the spread of Covid in the early months by pushing migrant labourers to leave Mumbai and Delhi, as he responded to criticism of the government's policies in parliament. The Congress, said the PM, had committed a "paap and mahaapradh (sin and huge crime)" by driving people into crisis.
"The Congress crossed all limits during the first wave of Covid. During the first wave, when the country was in lockdown and when the WHO was advising everyone to stay wherever they are, the Congress went to the Mumbai railway station to scare innocent people. They pushed labourers to go back to their states and spread coronavirus," PM Modi said in the Lok Sabha, calling it "paap (sin)".
"You pushed labourers into crisis. In Delhi, the government went around slums in jeeps and announced on mics that whoever wants to go home, buses have been arranged. Infections then shot up in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, where the coronavirus had not even spread that much. What kind of politics is this? How long will this politics will continue? The entire country is shocked by the behaviour of the Congress," he added.
The Prime Minister derided the Congress for its arrogance even out of power. "You have lost power but not your arrogance," he sneered.
"Now the Congress has made up its mind not to come to power for the next 100 years."
The attacks were driven by the thinking that Covid would hurt his image, PM Modi said. "Some people thought that the coronavirus will damage the image of Modi," he said.
Opposition parties had targeted the ruling BJP and the central government when in 2020, during the prolonged virus lockdown, millions of migrants, stranded without jobs or shelter, started heading to their home states on trucks or on foot.
Rahul Gandhi, in his speech last week, had slammed the government over unemployment and what he called the widening gap between two Indias - one for the rich and one for the poor.
"You keep talking about Make in India, Make in India. Make in India is not possible anymore. You have destroyed 'Made in India'. You need to support small and medium industries, otherwise 'Make in India' is not possible. Small and medium industries are the only ones who can create jobs. You keep talking about Made in India, New India, Start-Up India etc. And joblessness is only increasing," the Congress MP had said.