Congress flays Modi's claim of evacuating flood-hit people

The Congress on Sunday dismissed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s claim of helping evacuate 15,000 stranded people from Uttrarkhand in two days.

The party said that he wants to become a “Rambo”. Congress leader and I&B Minister Manish Tewari said that after making a tourist detour via the deluge affected state to reach Pathankot, some people were tom-tomming myths they had rescued thousands of people. “All the elements of national power put together had on Saturday evacuated 10,000 people and in all till Saturday, the government had been successful in evacuating 17,000 people. Modi was in Pathankot on Sunday to address a scheduled BJP rally,” said Tiwari.

“Now in all this, if somebody wants to become a Rambo and claims that he alone in a span of two days during a trip of disaster tourism brought out 15,000 people, I am afraid for the lack of a better word, it just reflects rank opportunism and sheer desperation to try and politicise and even milk a tragedy for political reasons," he said. “It is indeed unfortunate that when a part of India is trying to grapple with a natural disaster, there are some people who are absolutely unabashed in politicising it.” 

They had to go to Pathankot so they make a tourist detour via Uttarakhand and then started claiming, that solo, they were able to resuce 15,000 people,”  Tewari said in an apparent reference to Modi.

Congress’ communication department in-charge Ajay Maken also dismissed the claim in a similar manner, “ This is not a time for politicising a disaster and least for a political credit taking exercise.”

Maken's fellow AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh said this is not a time for anyone to project himself. “Narendra Modi is using media to push his own interests. Modi is taking credit for people already evacuated by administration and army,” Singh said

BJP  leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi rejected the Congress disapproval and said, “it  has the habit of faulting opposition leaders when they try  to do their bit at times of national crisis.”