As trains packed with migrant labourers returning from Gujarat arrived at railway stations in the eastern region of Uttar Pradesh and Opposition parties trained guns at the BJP, the saffron party leaders went into a huddle to ponder over its possible ramifications in the general elections in 2019.
A large number of people from the eastern UP districts of Varanasi, Azamgarh, Mau, Ballia and others worked in the mills and factories in Gujarat. The trains bound for these places from Gujarat were packed with migrants.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath spoke to his Gujarat counterpart Vijay Rupani about the situation in the state. “Gujarat is a peace-loving state... the state government is taking stern action against trouble mongers,’’ Adityanath said later.
A senior BJP leader here admitted that there might be “electoral ramifications’’ if the situation did not return to normalcy soon. ‘’We have urged the Gujarat government to restore peace quickly,’’ the leader said.
The Opposition parties, however, accused the Gujarat government of failing to ensure safety of the migrants from UP.
“Prime minister Narendra Modi should remember that the people of Varanasi supported him despite the fact that he is from Gujarat... he must ensure safety of the migrants,’’ BSP supremo Mayawati
said.
Congress leader Pramod Tiwari asked Modi to speak up on the violence. Congress workers also held a demonstration here in protest against attacks on migrants in Gujarat.
Posters asking the Gujaratis and Maharashtrians to leave the town came up in Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi on Tuesday. The posters also criticised Modi for not doing anything to safeguard the migrants from the temple
town.
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