Shiv Sena attacks UP, Bihar governments over Migrant Workers' Crisis

Shiv Sena on Wednesday attacked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the ongoing migrant crisis while accusing them of not doing enough to bring the stranded migrant workers and labourers in Maharashtra back to their home states. 

In an editorial published in Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the party has alleged that this has become a vote bank issue. These states want migrants back during the election period but not at the time of crisis, Shiv Sena said. 

“The migrant workers’ crisis has become a vote bank issue for the state of UP and Bihar. We don’t want to play politics over the issue,” the editorial said while stating that these states should take immediate steps to bring migrants back to their native homes. 

Shiv Sena compared the ongoing migrant crisis with the Palghar mob lynching where two sadhus and their driver were killed by an angry mob. In its editorial, Shiv Sena stated that the migrant workers' issue is “inhuman and condemnable like the Palghar incident.” 

Attacking UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Shiv Sena said that the Maharashtra government had taken swift action in the Palghar mob lynching incident and the accused were also arrested. As the Palghar incident became a national concern, Yogi Adityanath and other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders had slammed the Uddhav Thackeray government over the same. 

The Shiv Sena further said that UP and Bihar should give the same response to bring back the migrant workers and labourers stranded amid the lockdown like they did for the return of students from Kota in Rajasthan. 

Some people in Maharashtra would instigate the migrant workers for their petty political gains, Shiv Sena said while adding that it is the centre’s responsibility to make arrangements for sending the migrants back to their native homes. 

Several migrant workers and labourers have been residing in the coronavirus hotspot in Mumbai and in Dharavi slum area. “If these people continue to flock the streets, it is not safe for their health,” the editorial said. 

The migrants in Mumbai and elsewhere are being taken care by the Maharashtra government but it was the sole responsibility of the UP and Bihar governments to take them back, it added. 

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