Yet, in Uttar Pradesh, petty politics, camouflaged by bureaucratic perquisites, stalled relief efforts that could have safely ferried migrants from the state back to their homes. As many as 879 buses from neighbouring Rajasthan and Delhi had lined up along the inter-state border near Agra, awaiting permission from Yogi Adityanath’s government to allow them entry into the state, to transport stranded migrants. Scores of UP natives, who were working as labourers in various parts of Rajasthan, had travelled in some of these buses in the hope of safely reaching their villages instead of being forced to walk all the way. In the absence of permission from the UP government for the buses to enter the state, a majority of these migrants had to de-board near the Agra border and enter the state on foot to start walking back home. These buses had been arranged at the behest of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and paid for by her party.