Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has received appreciation from labourers hailing from Bihar, travelling from other states and crossing Uttar Pradesh to be home.
Labourers who are travelling between Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and crossing Uttar Pradesh during their journey have said that they have been treated very well in the Adityanath-ruled state. They have said their experience has been better in UP than in Bihar.
This report mentions that amid the blames that Adityanath has received for the violations arising during the lock down from his counterpart in Bihar, the UP chief minister has won goodwill and favour from labourers hailing from the neighbouring state.
The report quotes a migrant in Gopalganj as saying: "In UP, we were helped by cops in every police station who arranged for transportation. Although it required a lot of coordination, they gave us food, biscuits and water. But in our home state, forget about buses, no policeman is even willing to talk to us and everyone shoos us away."
Migrants traveling at the Bihar-UP border also said that the Adityanath administration took better care of them. They added that they were fed properly in UP.
One of the reasons for Adityanath's popularity was his move to drop the labourers coming from Delhi crossing UP for destination Bihar at the Bihar border.
The move did not please Nitish Kumar. This particular move from Adityanath has made the labourers draw comparisons between the treatment being given to them in UP and Bihar, especially at the UP Bihar border, where the Bihar police is asking them to walk nearly four kilometers.
The lockdown to fight Covid-19 has resulted in labourers from UP and Bihar stranded in different states fight hardships. Many are choosing to return to their home states. Some have promised to never go back to work in other states.
These labourers have risked their well being and lives for making a journey towards home.