Don't use coronavirus pandemic as political opportunity: BJP to Congress

The BJP asked the Congress on Friday not to use the coronavirus pandemic as a "political opportunity" as it expressed shock at the opposition party criticising the Union Home Ministry guidelines on inter-state movement of workers.

Rather than giving any positive suggestion, constant bickering and pessimism during these times are not the solutions, the party said.

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"The Congress should restrain itself from spreading canards, falsities and misinformation purely for political gain during a pandemic. The MHA guidelines lay down standard operating procedures (SOPs) for states to follow during migrants' transfer. States are in talks with each other to effectively carry forward this mammoth task," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said.

The BJP's response came after the Congress accused the Centre of "cruelly" and "mercilessly" abandoning the entire category of migrant labourers and termed "a cruel joke" the order on inter-state movement of workers.

Hitting back, Patra said, "It's astonishing and shocking that senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi sees the MHA guidelines on migrant labourers as a joke."

"A few days ago Rahul Gandhi had stated that lockdown is of no help... Our simple suggestion to the Congress is not to use the pandemic as a political opportunity," he said.

In his press conference, Singhvi said the "mismanagement" of migrant labour shows the approach the central government has adopted towards the poor of the country.

"The Centre has mercilessly, cruelly and without second thought abandoned the entire category of migrant labour," he had said.