Row erupts over use of govt resources to ferry crowd to Modi's event in UP

Controversy erupted after reports that the administration in Sultanpur district, where prime minister Narendra Modi launched the Purvanchal Expressway on Tuesday, had deployed hundreds of buses of the UP transport department to ferry crowds to the program.

The opposition leaders slammed the BJP government in the state for spending public money to ferry the crowds.

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According to the sources, the administration had dispatched buses to every block in the district to bring about 20,000 people to the event and the rally, which was earlier addressed by Modi. Those who travelled by the buses to attend the event were also served breakfast and lunch by the administration.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday slammed the BJP government for 'misusing' public money for the event. "This very BJP government had failed to provide buses to the workers, who were returning home from different parts of the country during the lockdown but now they are providing buses to bring people to the program of prime minister and union home minister," Priyanka said in a message on her Twitter handle.

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Priyanka also shared some reports appearing in the local media saying that the people, who were looking to go to their native villages in Sultanpur district, were unable to find buses as they were deployed to bring crowds for the event.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) also criticised the state government and said that it showed that the people were not attending the BJP leaders' rallies and programs. "It proves that no one wants to listen to the PM and hence the deployment of government buses," said a senior SP leader here.

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