The Congress on May Day accused the Narendra Modi government of “mercilessly abandoning” millions of migrant workers by not arranging for their shelter, food and transport while focusing its time and energy on executing the Central Vista construction-and-beautification project.

Portraying the home ministry’s April 29 circular allowing the states to take back their stranded workers on buses as an astonishing lack of planning and empathy, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said: “It is clear the government has mercilessly and cruelly abandoned the migrant workers, the most vulnerable section of our work force, who are stuck hundreds of miles away from their families without food and financial support. It is sitting on their back that big cities enjoy infrastructural comforts.”

The Congress sought to contrast the miseries of the workers with the government’s obsession with the Central Vista project.

“When the country is in pandemic mode, the government is in construction/renovation mode. Millions of people are stuck, grappling with starvation and job loss, and the government is speeding up the project to make a new Parliament, residence for the Prime Minister and offices for ministers. That they called a meeting to review the project on April 23 in the midst of this crisis is in itself extraordinary,” Singhvi said.

Responding to the reports of the government’s go-ahead to the project on Thursday, Congress veteran Jairam Ramesh tweeted: “Why can’t the Prime Minister shelve the Central Vista project for a few years? How can India afford this extravaganza in this time of crisis? We have repeatedly asked the government to put it on hold. The many ‘Modi Mahals’ can and must wait! India and Indians first.”

Congress president Sonia Gandhi had also written to the Prime Minister demanding scrapping of the project.

Arguing that the government had offered less than 1 per cent of the GDP so far as special grant to fight the coronavirus-induced crisis while other countries had set aside 10 to 20 per cent, Singhvi lamented that the Central Vista project worth Rs 20,000 crore was being rushed through.

“What is the need? The only reason is to create an architectural legacy for one person. History is being erased to re-write history. They are destroying the existing structures to create imprints of one leader,” he said.

Singhvi urged the Supreme Court to decide the matter at the earliest, saying: “The matter is sub judice.

The government is moving fast to render the judicial review infructuous. They want to take the project to a stage where it becomes irreversible.”

Hearing a PIL on Thursday, Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde had refused to stay the project, saying there was no urgency as no construction work would take place during the lockdown.

The Congress is now raising questions on both the government’s intentions and its abilities.

Insisting that the government could have used the 40-day lockdown period to formulate a comprehensive policy on the migrant workers, Singhvi said: “The Tughlaqi firman to states shows the government’s attitude towards the poor and its inability to manage a crisis.

“Have they made any assessment of the number of migrant workers stranded across the country? Have they offered budgetary support to the transportation (of the migrants)? Roughly 42 lakh workers want to go to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar only. If millions of people travel by bus — from Tamil Nadu and Kerala to Bihar and Assam — it will take years to transport them.”

The Congress leader added: “This is not a solution, this is madness. Why not trains? Physical distancing, too, is better possible in trains. Who will bear the cost? Why did the Centre not allocate a budget for this? They cross all the limits of transgression in usurping powers but no obligation, no responsibility. These workers were given barely four hours before announcing the lockdown and now after 40-45 days, there is no plan to take them home.”

Told that the Centre on Friday allowed one train from Telangana to leave for Jharkhand with migrants and instructed the states to contact the Railway Board if they needed trains, Singhvi said: “That proves our charge. What was the home ministry circular — only buses. That’s what we are saying — non-application of mind. And why these bureaucratic consultations and planning after 45 days? What were they doing all this while? By now, this problem should have been sorted out and all the migrant workers should have reached home.”

(Later in the day, the Centre announced that trains would be run for the migrants.)

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi also highlighted the crisis of migrant labour in his customary greeting on May Day.

Posting three photographs of migrant workers walking home with their luggage and children, he tweeted: “My good wishes to crores of brothers and sisters on the occasion of International Labour Day. This country is made by the courage and struggle of workers. In this difficult time, my sympathies and support are with you. I salute you.”