New Delhi: Hours after Home Minister Amit Shah lashed out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for not allowing movement of migrants, the Congress appealed to both the Centre and state government to work together in this hour of crisis.
In a video message, leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary said, "I had discussions with Home Minister Amit Shah day before yesterday. He told me that he has been continuously asking the West Bengal Government for the number of trains that will be needed to bring back stranded migrant workers, but till 2 days ago, there was no response from the state government."
Earlier today, Union Home Minister Shah, in a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said the West Bengal government is not allowing trains with migrant workers to reach the state that may further create hardship for the labourers.
"I got to know today that the state government has asked for eight trains. I appeal to the state government and Amit Shah ji to work together and make every possible effort to bring back standard migrant workers of Bengal," Chowdhury said.
Read: Centre vs state: Shah calls out Mamata for halting movement of migrants
Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill took a dig at Shah for speaking on the migrants' issue for the "first time" after more than 40 days of lockdown.
"The Home Minister was silent when the entire country was burning, when the migrant workers were forcefully stopped in Surat and Bangalore. Now, he has finally spoken about the West Bengal issue. He should also write a similar letter to the Gujarat and Karnataka governments," Shergill said.
Pertinently, the Congress had earlier alleged that the West Bengal government was not coordinating with the nodal officers of various states for the movement of migrant workers.
Shergill urged the West Bengal Government to allow the migrant workers to return to their home state and make proper arrangements for them.
"Both central and state governments have to understand that this is not a time to do politics over such matters. They should work together to make a proper strategy to bring back stranded migrant workers," he added.
Read: Ready to facilitate return of migrants, if you can’t: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to Bengal govt
