NEW DELHI: The Congress on Friday blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the alleged exodus of migrant workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in Gujarat saying it was a conspiracy of the ruling party.
AICC general secretary in charge of Bihar, Shaktisinh Gohil, also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak up on the violence in the BJP-ruled state and take moral responsibility for what he said were the actions of the saffron party’s leaders.
He also went on to call for President’s Rule in the state saying that 165 FIRs had been filed in connection with the exodus. “It means law and order has collapsed and President’s Rule should be imposed,” he said.
“This is a conspiracy of the BJP government to divert the anger among the youth over its failures to provide jobs,” he said.
Gohil, who hails from Gujarat, said recent statements of BJP leaders like Himmatnagar MLA Rajendra Chawra, who wanted 80% locals in the state’s factories, showed they were behind the conspiracy.
Gohil also defended his party’s Radhanpur MLA Alpesh Thakor, who is also the AICC secretary in Bihar, saying he may have spoken against migrants earlier but off late, he was doing everything to assure that the workers stayed.
“If Alpesh was at fault the BJP government would have taken action against him. But he has been making positive remarks after the recent crisis broke out,” Gohil said to the media.The Congress leader took a dig at the recent statement of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath denying any exodus in Gujarat saying that the railway authorities had acknowledged a spurt in traffic towards UP and Bihar.
Gohil also demanded the ouster of Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani over his failure to curb the exodus and action against BJP leaders involved in social media campaigns against migrant workers.
BJP leaders who “deliberately planned this conspiracy should be brought to book”, he said.
Migrants departing
After a labourer from Bihar raped a 14-month-old baby in Sabarkantha district on Sept 28, large-scale violence broke out in various part of the state against migrant workers hailing primarily from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar which led to the controversy.