Unlock treasury to help needy: Sonia

Top Congress leaders on Thursday (May 28) took to social media to highlight the travails of migrants and the poor with party chief Sonia Gandhi accusing the Modi government of turning a blind eye to their plight and demanded cash transfers to provide them succour.

“For the first time since independence, people have seen the same pain and plight where lakhs of workers are walking barefoot, starving, thirsty, without medicines or any means forced to travel thousands of kilometers to reach home. Their pain and plight were seen by the entire nation but perhaps not by the government,” the Congress President said in a video message, kickstarting the ‘SpeakUp’ campaign.

“Friends in Congress have decided that to raise India’s voice strongly we will run a social campaign to this effect. We request the union government to open the lock of treasury and give help to the needy,” she said.

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Scores of Congress workers led by Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra too highlighted the plight of the poor and demanded immediate cash transfers of Rs 7,500 per month for the next six months to alleviate the pain faced by the poor due to the anti-COVID lockdown.

“We demand that all migrants be provided transport to reach home safely, increase employment days to 200 under MGNREGA, give Rs 10,000 immediate help to the poor and a financial package for small industries,” was the refrain of the Congress leaders who posted videos and messages on social media.

Chief Ministers Bhupesh Baghel, V Narayanasamy, and Amarinder Singh also posted videos making similar demands.

Priyanka also accused the BJP of making attempts to destabilise the Maharashtra government which was battling the COVID-19 outbreak in the state.

“This is not the time to indulge in politics. This is a time for cooperation,” Priyanka said, criticising the Uttar Pradesh government for turning down the Congress offer to run 1,000 buses to ferry migrant workers to their respective villages.

“They claimed 12,000 buses of UP Transport Corporation would ferry migrants home. But the promise has remained on paper,” the AICC General Secretary, in charge of party affairs in Uttar Pradesh, said.