Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, who air-dashed to the spot in a Navy helicopter, was not in his best. A defensive CM said bluntly that his government never expected such a tragedy and could not be blamed for the same.
“We were not intimated about the tragedy in advance,” the CM shot
back when newsmen asked about the poor security arrangements at Pulmedu where more than two lakh pilgrims converged to watch the ‘jyoti’.
“Don’t cook up stories. You are experts in it,” an irritated CM took it on the media.
“This is worse than what he said at Major Sandeep’s (a commando martyred during the Mumbai attack) house in Bangalore a couple of years ago. Leaders shouldn’t be so insensitive like this,” a correspondent of a national TV channel was heard saying. Many at the press meeting shared his views.