Bhopal:
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Madhya Pradesh minister Rajendra Shukla was criticized by the opposition after asking actor Sonu Sood on Twitter to help migrant workers in his area who were trapped in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Sood has won praise for arranging transportation for migrant workers who cannot return home amid the national coronavirus blockade.
Shukla, the Rewa BJP MLA, shared on Twitter a list of migrants from the Rewa and Satna districts of Madhya Pradesh who are trapped in Mumbai.
“Your migrant brothers will be sent to you tomorrow, sir. If I ever go to MP, then offer me Poha.” The actor replied in Hindi.
@SonuSood जी ये रीवा / सतना मप्र निवासी काफी दिनों से मुम्बई में फंसे हुए हैं और अभी तक वापस नहीं पहुंच पाए हैं। कृपया इनको वापस लाने मे हमारी मदद् करें। @RewaCollectorpic.twitter.com/W06ypyxi38
– Rajendra Shukla (@rshuklabjp) June 1, 2020
Shukla later said that 55 of the 168 people trapped in Mumbai could return after their request to Mr. Sood.
However, social media users controlled Shukla, noting that the BJP is in power in the Center and in Madhya Pradesh, but its leader had to seek the help of a Bollywood actor.
The Opposition Congress also targeted Prime Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
“This tweet from Rajendra Shukla exposes the bitter truth of Madhya Pradesh. See Shivraj (Chouhan), former minister and currently BJP MLA of Rewa cannot trust his government, then has to ask actor Sonu Sood for help for migrant workers trapped in Mumbai, “former head of Parliament’s Congress, Arun Yadav, tweeted.
Referring to the state government’s promise to bring every migrant worker back, state Congress spokesman Narendra Saluja said Shukla had been a minister for many years in governments led by Shivraj Chouhan, so he knows the “reality” of the Prime Minister’s announcements.
“So he sought the help of actor Sonu Sood, not Shivraj Chouan, to bring back the stranded workers in Mumbai,” he said.
Shukla said the Center and the state government have brought thousands of migrant workers back, but “congressmen are hiding in their homes.”
Madhya Pradesh, BJP spokesman Rajneesh Agrawal said the state government brought back six lakhs of migrants, in which Shukla also played an important role as a member of the BJP working group on the issue.
“Alcohol evangelist. Devoted twitter guru. Lifelong coffee expert. Music nerd.”