Shiv Sena slams Modi for rescuing only Gujaratis

Mumbai, June 25: After the Congress, it is the Shiv Sena, an ally of the BJP in the NDA, which hit out at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi over the rescue operations in Uttarakhand. The Sena took a dig at Modi for reportedly rescuing 15,000 Gujaratis from Uttarkhand over the weekend.

[Read: Sena slams BJP over Modi's VVIP status]

The Sena, in a strong-worded editorial in its mouthpiece Saamna, accused Modi of looking after the welfare of the people of only his state, indicating that a prime ministerial aspirant should not take a divisive path.

The Sena said Modi's act of saving his own people could lead to an adverse publicity and boomerang. It praised Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who also visited Dehradun at the hour of crisis.

Top political leaders' visit to the flood-ravaged state, which the media has termed as 'disaster tourism' has become a high point of political debate with leaders across the spectrum trying to score a point over the opponent.

The Centre, meanwhile, officially asked the Uttarakhand government not to permit any other state governments to initiate rescue efforts of their own. This call was perhaps prompted by Modi who visited Uttarakhand over the weekend and propagated about his government organising special flights from Dehradun to Ahmedabad to bring the stranded back home.

Of all the states that have offered help to Uttarakhand at the hour of crisis, neighbouring Uttarr Pradesh pledged the largest amount of Rs 25 crore. Congress-ruled states like Maharashtra, Delhi and Haryana have offered Rs 10 crore while Rajasthan has offered Rs 2 crore. Karnataka has added another Rs 5 crore to the relief fund while Bihar and Odisha have contributed Rs 5 crore each.

OneIndia News