PM Modi's 'migrant' remark kicks off storm in Maharashtra

The Congress has decided to demonstrate outside BJP offices on Wednesday demanding an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for accusing the grand old party of superspreading the novel Coronavirus by helping the migrants in Maharashtra return to their home states by trainsCongressrsquos state unit chief Nana Patole said the party workers will demonstrate in front of the BJP offices across Maharashtra under the lsquoMaafi Mango PM Modirsquo programme ldquoWhat PM Modi has said in Parliament is an insult to Maharashtrardquo he said asking the BJP to apply a similar yardstick to the lsquoNamaste Trumprsquo event that was held in Gujarat during the Covid19 outbreakHe said the PM was covering up his failures in mitigating the pandemic ldquoIn a parliamentary practice one has to answer the questions the Opposition asks and not make fun of the Opposition The government should tell what good it has done Irsquom sure the people will show the PM his place in 2024 and make Rahul Gandhi the countryrsquos leaderrdquo he said at a press conference at the party office in MumbaiPatole appealed to the MVA partners who have strongly protested against the PMrsquos remark on Maharashtra to join the agitation The Maharashtra BJP told the Congress and the MVA to stay away from provoking and confronting its cadre failing which it assured a fitting responsePolitics in election time RautShiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said it was wrong to single out Maharashtra which has done a good job of handling the pandemic ldquoIn fact the World Health Organisation WHO has appreciated the Dharavi model of battling Covid19 The Supreme Court had advised other states to follow Maharashtra All this taken into consideration blaming Mumbai Pune and rest of the state for spreading the virus is an insult to the people and the government they have elected the corona warrior doctors and paramedics rdquo he addedRaut said the blame has been wrongly shifted to Maharashtra in view of the elections in five states ldquoWho tried to show that the state government couldnrsquot shift the migrants Who felicitated Sonu Sood for facilitating the travel that the state couldnrsquot We had asked them to not rush into things I think the CM of Maharashtra and the Congress leaders in the government should officially clarify on the PMrsquos remarksrdquolsquoWhy create bad bloodrsquoIn Delhi NCPrsquos Supriya Sule produced several documents to prove that it was the Centre that started special trains of which most originated from Gujarat to shift the migrants to their native states ldquoTujhse naraz nahi hairan hun mai Irsquom not upset but surprised at yourdquo she said reacting to the PMrsquos remarkldquoOnce elected the PM doesnrsquot belong to any party but represents the entire nation It is sad that efforts are being made to create disenchantment between states by making such remarksrdquo she said adding that Maharashtra shared a good relation with Uttar Pradesh and hence there should be no attempt to create bad blood between themPraise for PawarNotwithstanding Sulersquos criticism Modi heaped praises on NCP boss Sharad Pawar in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday He asked the leaders the Congress in particular to learn from Pawarrsquos positive politics He said Pawar was travelling throughout Maharashtra during the pandemic to help the people Modi said he was thankful to Pawar who along with the TMC leaders attended a pandemicrelated allparty meeting when the entire Opposition including the Congress had boycotted itCong instigated migrants BJPBJP legislator Ashish Shelar held the Congress responsible for spreading rumours and instigating the migrant labourers who finally took to the streets ldquoWe have seen it at the Bandra station Were the MVA parties acting as Chinese agents by acting as super spreaders Why did the MVA start its illegal shifting much before the Centre provided trainsrdquo asked Shelar He said the Congress was free to hold the agitation on Wednesday but warned that the BJPrsquos rank and file will respond in the same vein if provokedHe said Sule was spreading disinformation ldquoShe should be surprised to know that 60000 people were denied financial assistance by the MVA government Will she ask the state government why did the MVA fail in holding the migrants back assuring that they would be provided with the essentials Instead the migrants were fooled and forced to face trouble on their way homerdquo he added