Kerala flood: Rahul asks Cong men to donate salary

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday directed party's MPs, MLAs and MLCs across the country to donate a month's salary for relief efforts in rain-hit Kerala and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare the floods as a national disaster.

Scoffing at the Centre's “meagre” aid announcement for Kerala, the Congress also asked Modi to stop discriminating between BJP and non-BJP governments in matters of flood relief.

“Increasing funds allocated for Kerala relief to Rs.500 Cr is a good step but nowhere near enough. It is critical you declare the floods as a National Disaster. Please do not vacillate as the people of Kerala are suffering,” Rahul tweeted after a meeting with party leaders.

Rahul also directed party units in states adjoining Kerala to set up relief committees to collect relief material gathered by Congress workers from across the country for the flood-hit regions.

“These Special Relief Committees will come up in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry,” Randeep Singh Surjewala, in-charge of the AICC communications department told reporters here after the meeting convened by Rahul.

Congress-ruled states such as Punjab, Puducherry and Karnataka have already made donations to the Kerala Relief Fund, he said.

Rahul directed that all Congress MPs, from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, MLAs and MLCs across India to donate one month salary, which will be sent through the AICC for relief measures in Kerala.

“It is time that Prime Minister Modi must rise above political partisan game and come forward as a nation to help people of Kerala, people of Karnataka and other states affected by the flood,” Surjewala said.

On Friday, Rahul had urged party workers and leaders to help those in need in the rain-hit regions of Kerala and Karnataka.

He expressed concern over the widespread devastation caused by heavy rainfall across Kerala and Kodagu in Karnataka.