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Updated: Mar 29, 2020 01:15 IST

The exodus of migrant workers from Delhi, mostly to destinations in Uttar Pradesh and some even beyond, to Bihar, saw a sea of humanity jostling to get into buses at the Delhi-UP borders. On Twitter, the criticism over the handling of the lockdown and the large-scale migration triggered a political spat between the Aam Aadmi Party which rules the national capital and the BJP, which is in power in Uttar Pradesh.

Both sides accused each other of playing “dirty politics” and blamed the other for the plight of the migrant workers.

It is unclear how the blame game started. But by evening, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s advisor Mrityunjay Kumar appeared to be the key players. The BJP’s national secretary BL Santhosh also weighed in.

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Sisodia lashed out at claims by some BJP leaders in Uttar Pradesh that accused the Aam Aadmi Party government of trying to force migrant workers in the national capital to leave the city.

According to one version being circulated by BJP leaders, the Delhi government had allegedly disconnected power supply to areas which had a high proportion of migrants. A second version spoke about how the city government had ferried scores of migrants to the Anand Vihar bus terminus in east Delhi, close to the border with UP.

Sisodia accused the BJP’s Yogi Adityanath government of spreading lies.

“I am very sad that BJP leaders are doing petty politics during the coronavirus pandemic. @myogiadityanath’s government has alleged that @ArvindKejriwal ordered to disconnect power and water supply to migrants in Delhi, forcing them to leave. It is the time to unite with seriousness to save the country, not for cheap politics,” Sisodia said in his tweet.

Yogi Adityanath’s adviser Mrityunjay launched a sharp counterattack, accusing the AAP leader of attempting to save face by issuing statements claiming the Kejriwal government had dealt with all the residents with an equal hand setting an example for other states. Mrityunjay alleged “the exodus” was engineered by the Delhi government.

“This huge exodus from Delhi is your government’s doing. They neither got shelter nor food. No shelter even during rains... Yogi government made arrangements overnight to provide them with buses, shelter and food. Don’t attempt to save face by speaking untruth,” Mrityunjay tweeted.

BJP leader BL Santosh waded in, blaming the city government for the exodus. There were videos of migrant voters, he said, where they were seen talking about how they had been told that there would be buses at Anand Vihar bus station to take them home.

“Some forces want India to fail when #IndiaFightsCorona, Nation will not forgive them,” he tweeted, questioning how 50,000 migrant workers were allowed to break the lockdown.

This wasn’t the only one spart on Twitter. There had been a sideshow of AAP vs BJP through the day that had been set off by AAP MLA Raghav Chadha’s now-deleted comment that BJP leaders alleged, accused UP Police of beating migrant workers trying to cross over to UP from Delhi.

Mrityunjay said the UP government will take action against such statements.

“This is downright fake news, their party is not shying away from dirty politics even at the time of such pandemic, how can the Aam Aadmi Party stoop to such lows? UP police and government will definitely act on this tweet,” he said.

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Mrityunjay responded to Sisodia and accused him of attempting to save face by issuing statements claiming Kejriwal government had dealt with all the residents with an equal hand setting an example for other states. Mrityunjay alleged “the exodus” was the doing of Delhi government.

“This huge exodus from Delhi is your government’s doing. They neither got shelter nor food. No shelter even during rains... Yogi government made arrangements overnight to provide them with buses, shelter and food. Don’t attempt to save face by speaking untruth,” Mrityunjay tweeted.