The rush of thousands of migrants at Bandra Railway Terminus two days ago has created a political upheaval in the State with the ruling alliance and the BJP blaming each other for the chaos.
Several senior BJP leaders, including former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, have repeatedly blamed the Sena-led alliance Government for mishandling the situation and asserting that it was the responsibility of the State to look after the migrant workers.
Facing all-round flak, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday came out with a conspiracy theory and said it didn’t expect the Opposition BJP to stoop so low and conduct itself in a manner that had nothing to do with either Maharashtra or its
people.
In a hard-hitting editorial published in the Sena’s official mouth-piece Saamana, the Shiv Sena hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that mere speeches by the leaders did not “fill the stomachs of the people and that people were unhappy with the relief extended to them by the Government”.
“On the morning of April 14, the country’s most popular and efficient Prime Minister Modi extends the lockdown till May 3. Moments after Modi’s speech ends, migrant labourers in Mumbai, Surat and various other cities gets restless. What we are witnessing is dangerous. Mere speeches by the leaders do not fill the stomachs of the people and that people are unhappy with the relief extended to them by the Government. It is life and battle for the migrants,” the Sena said.
“There was indeed a conspiracy behind whatever happened in front of Bandra Railway Terminus on Tuesday. The people will definitely come to know as what led to the huge crowds in front of Bandra Railway Terminus,” it said.
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BJP blames Sena, Maha Govt
sees plot behind Bandra chaos
“We will bust the conspiracy. The State Government will nail the people - taking advantage of coronavirus -- who were trying to spread falsehood. It is rather unfortunate that the Opposition has chosen to stoop so low,” the Shiv Sena said.
“The Opposition does not lose even a single opportunity to land the State Government in trouble. For the purpose, it ( the Opposition) can stoop down to any level. This is like driving a wedge in the Maharashtra political culture. The Opposition is behaving as if it has nothing to do with either Maharashtra or its people. If the Opposition continues in such a manner, it will lose whatever credibility it has among the people,” the Saamana editorial said.
Maintaining that it did not agree that rumours that the Railways would run special trains to ferry north-Indian migrants based in Mumbai had triggered assembly of thousands of people, the Shiv Sena said: “We do not say they were rumours. It was indeed news. In fact there is a Press release issued by the Railway about starting special trains. That being the case, it cannot be said that because of rumours that so many migrant workers gathered in front of the Bandra Railway Station”.
“Why did the Railways started reservations of tickets after April 15? And that too at time when there was uncertainty whether the Prime Minister would lift the lockdown or not, the Railways’ to create such a confusion by doing ticket reservations of 40 lakh people is indeed a crime,” the Sena editorial said.