New Delhi:
In Uttarakhand's massive tragedy and the Herculean rescue efforts now on, politics too has found a role.
Narendra Modi's visit to the flood-ravaged hill state and alleged evacuation of 15,000 Gujaratis on the weekend has sparked a slanging match between his BJP and the Congress, which is now organising some visible relief programmes of its own.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi this morning flagged off 24 trucks carrying relief material to Uttarakhand from the party's Delhi headquarters. On stage with her were senior ministers and Congress number 2, Rahul Gandhi, who has now reached Uttarakhand to asses the situation.
Mr Gandhi was abroad last week when the massive floods hit Uttarakhand and today's flag-off was his first public appearance since then. A fact that the BJP has highlighted. Meenakshi Lekhi said, "Rahul Gandhi is needed and he is in a foreign country..."
Ms Lekhi was countering the Congress for slamming Mr Modi after media reports said that the Chief Minister of Gujarat had visited Uttarakhand with a team of officials and flew out the next day having ensured the evacuation of 15,000 people from his state.
The Congress said Mr Modi's "Rambo act" reflected "the rank opportunism and the sheer desperation to try and politicise and even milk tragedy for political gains." Mr Modi's opponents have also criticised him for singling out Gujaratis for help.
The Congress' Oscar Fernandes today sought to explain how the public appearance of his party's top leaders was different from Mr Modi's parachute act in Uttarakhand. The presence of Mrs Gandhi and Rahul, he said, was only designed to enthuse party workers engaged in relief operations.
Mr Modi aggravated the Congress, which governs Uttarakhand, further by tweeting that he had offered to rebuild the holy shrine of Kedarnath, destroyed by the flood.
Senior minister Ambika Soni said Mr Modi was not the only Chief Minister to have visited Uttarakhand. The Congress' Prithivraj Chavan of Maharashtra and Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan had visited too, she pointed out.
Mr Chavan, in fact, held a press conference yesterday to detail how his government had helped people from his state stuck in Uttarakhand.