Nothing seems to be going right for the Congress Party. On Monday, AICC chief Sonia Gandhi used what she thought was a master stroke. She said the Congress will pay for the travel expenses of all the migrant workers who want to go to their native states. A section of media too hailed it as a political master stroke.
So far so good! But there is one problem. The Central Government has already announced that it will bear 85 per cent of the travel cost of the migrant workers, while the State governments will take care of the remaining 15 per cent. If together both the state and the Central Governments take care of 100 per cent of the travel cost of the migrants, what will the Congress take care of? Also, a large section of the migrants have already left for their home states. So, what is the meaning of offering free travel when all of them have already left? Well! The Congress had no answer for these queries. So, it's master stroke not just ended as a dud, but the Congress ended with egg on its face.
But, the biggest embarrassment was the revelation that the Congress governments in Maharashtra and Rajasthan were charging up to Rs 1000 for the travel tickets of each migrant worker. How does the Congress explain that?
So far so good! But there is one problem. The Central Government has already announced that it will bear 85 per cent of the travel cost of the migrant workers, while the State governments will take care of the remaining 15 per cent. If together both the state and the Central Governments take care of 100 per cent of the travel cost of the migrants, what will the Congress take care of? Also, a large section of the migrants have already left for their home states. So, what is the meaning of offering free travel when all of them have already left? Well! The Congress had no answer for these queries. So, it's master stroke not just ended as a dud, but the Congress ended with egg on its face.
But, the biggest embarrassment was the revelation that the Congress governments in Maharashtra and Rajasthan were charging up to Rs 1000 for the travel tickets of each migrant worker. How does the Congress explain that?