Hitting back at Prime minister Narendra Modi for his comments that Congress was standing at Mumbai station and scaring innocent labourers into fleeing to their native states, the Maharashtra unit of the party on Monday said that on the contrary, the Centre ran away from its responsibility during the coronavirus pandemic whereas Congress facilitated the return of migrant workers.

Leading the attack, Maharashtra ministers Balasaheb Thorat and Ashok Chavan termed PM Modi's comments in Lok Sabha "unfortunate" that did not behove his post. They said the Centre was trying to hide its failures.