LUCKNOW: The stand-off between the UP government and the Congress party over the ‘1000 bus’ row seems to be far from over. The face-off has now led to the Rajasthan government’s counter move of sending Rs 36 lakh bill to Yogi Adityanath government incurred while ferrying the students stranded in Kota to UP border last month.
UP deputy CM Dinesh Sharma claimed that the bill raised by the Rajasthan government was the reflection of Congress’s doublespeak. “This is typical of Congress. When it wanted to politicize issues, it sent empty buses to UP, most of which were not in proper condition. Now, it wants to charge the state for sending back stranded children to their homes,” said the deputy CM.
Sharma claimed that Rajasthan had raised a bill of Rs 19 lakh incurred on for diesel in the buses plied by them to ferry the Kota students till UP border. “We paid the bill on May 5,” Sharma said.
The Deputy CM said that when UP government expressed the wish to bring back the students stranded in Kota, Rajasthan government asked UP to bring its own buses to Kota for the purpose.
With a sense that there would be around 10,000 students, UP government sent 650 buses to Kota. “But then it was realised that the number of students were around 12,000. As a result, UP transport authorities urged the Rajasthan Roadways to arrange some buses to ferry the students till Fatehpur Sikri on the UP border.
As a result, the Rajasthan transport department provided 70 buses,” said Sharma. “Also, UPSRTC officials had asked Rajasthan Roadways for fuel for the UP buses,” he added.
“The students said they were not being provided with proper food and stay in Rajasthan. They requested us to bring them back to Uttar Pradesh,” he added. UPSRTC buses were used to bring back stranded UP students from Kota, 94 buses of Rajasthan Roadways were also used and a bill of Rs 36 lakh was raised by
Rajasthan Government for the same, said Managing Director, UP State Road Transport Corporation.
“Our buses were used to bring back stranded UP students from Kota following UP Government orders. In all, 94 buses of Rajasthan Roadways were also used. Bill of Rs 36 lakh raised by Rajasthan government has been paid,” said Raj Shekhar, Managing Director, UP State Road Transport Corporation.
Meanwhile, former UP CM and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati condemned the move of Rajasthan government of raising the bill for the bus service. She said it was sad that the two neighbouring states were locked in such an odious and low-level politics.
She asked the Congress party to explain how proper it was to seek the money spent on buses to ferry the students from Kota to UP border. On the contrary, it smacked of sheer politics when the party offered 1000 buses to ferry migrants in UP. “How proper and humane it is?” she asked in a tweet.