The Congress on Wednesday demanded a thorough probe into the gathering of migrants at Mumbai’s Bandra railway station saying it was an attempt to disrupt communal harmony and negate the State’s efforts to fight the coronavirus outbreak. Questioning why railway bookings continued during the lockdown, the Congress also sought a probe into the role of the Railways Ministry.
While former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan alleged that the Congress smelt a political conspiracy behind the campaigns being run on social media to impose President’s Rule in Maharashtra, alliance partner NCP’s chief Sharad Pawar urged political parties to desist from scoring points over each other during the ongoing crisis and asked them to defeat Covid-19 collectively.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi questioned the role of Railway Ministry in spreading the rumour of run of the train and urged the Government to probe the “role” of the Railways Ministry.
Addressing a Press conference through a video link, Chavan cited a letter of the South Central Railways for starting special trains to transport migrant labourers that might have triggered the gathering at Bandra.
A large number of migrant workers gathered at the Bandra railway station on Tuesday, forcing the police to take stern action to disperse them.
Chavan said a police probe into the matter has already been launched and the guilty will be brought to book. Taking on the BJP, Chavan said, “Who is patronising the social media campaigns to impose President’s Rule in Maharashtra? It smells of a political conspiracy. This is not the time to play politics, but who is running such social media campaigns needs to be found out.”
Pawar termed as unfortunate the gathering of migrant workers outside the Bandra railway station and stressed such incidents should not recur in the face of the Covid-19 crisis.
He said people gathered outside the station after somebody circulated the rumour that trains services will resume, adding precautions need to be taken to ensure that such confusing messages are checked.
“Somebody spread the rumour that train services will resume and local people gathered there. Unfortunately, social distancing was not observed,” Pawar said in a Facebook post.
“I would also request political parties that we may fight politically but this is not the time to score over each other. It is not the time to think who is in power at the Centre and in the state. We should take steps to defeat the coronavirus,” he said.
For her part, Priyanka also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help the stranded workers reach their villages. “After all, why does every disaster break on the poor and the workers? Why are decisions not taken while taking them into consideration. Why are they left on God. Why was booking of railway tickets allowed to continue during the lockdown?”
She said the workers were the backbone of the country and the government should help them reach their villages. “For God’s sake, Narendra Modi ji please help them,” Priyanka said.
“Why were special trains not arranged? Their money has finished and so have their stock of ration. They are feeling insecure and want to go home in their villages. Arrangements should have been made for them. They can still be helped with proper planning,” the Congress general secretary said in a tweet in Hindi.
Congress leader Ahmed Patel said the “role” of the railways ministry must be probed for the crisis among the migrants. “Why were train services abruptly stopped leaving migrants stranded? Why was railways accepting bookings despite no clarity on lockdown extension,” he asked.