Why is PM visiting only Gujarat when Maharashtra too is hit by cyclone, asks MVA

Ruling parties in Maharashtra on Wednesday asked why Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi did not visit Maharashtra and announced aid only for his home state Gujarat when both the states were hit by Cyclone Tauktae

Ruling parties in Maharashtra on Wednesday asked why Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi did not visit Maharashtra and announced aid only for his home state Gujarat when both the states were hit by Cyclone Tauktae. Meanwhile, politicians from ruling parties as well as opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) started touring cyclone-hit coastal districts.

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In the backdrop of PM Modi’s Gujarat tour on Wednesday, Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders criticised him for giving Maharashtra a different treatment.

The Congress asked why Modi gave a miss to other states hit by Cyclone Tauktae.

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole asked why Modi did not visit Maharashtra which was one of the worst-hit states due to the cyclone. “Coastal districts (in Maharashtra) have sustained huge losses due to losses of coconut, mango trees and damages to fishing boats and housing structures. Despite this, the PM visited parts of his home state and announced relief package. Is he the PM of only Gujarat,” he questioned.

Shiv Sena MP and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that PM Modi visited Gujarat because the government in his home state was weak. “I do not want to say anything on his Gujarat tour, because the prime minister should visit the battered parts of the country. Maharashtra has faced similar losses as other states due to the cyclone, but he must have thought of Gujarat first because of the weak leadership in that state. He knows that Maharashtra is in able hands of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, but it may not be the case of Gujarat. He must have felt about more need of giving helping hands to the people of Gujarat,” he said.

Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) chief spokesperson and minority affairs minister Nawab Malik said, “Is this not clear discrimination towards Maharashtra?”

BJP vice-president Madhav Bhandari has hit back and asked why the chief minister did not visit the affected districts in his own state. “Before raising questions about Modi’s tour, MVA leaders should first reply why the CM did not visit Ratnagiri or other districts hit by the cyclone immediately, as the PM did. They should also reveal about the quantum of losses Maharashtra has sustained while comparing it with Gujarat. The losses in Gujarat are many times more than here. MVA leaders are busy in politicising everything including a natural calamity like this, without maintaining even a minimum amount of decency,” he said.

Meanwhile, leaders from ruling as well as opposition parties have started touring coastal districts hit by the cyclone. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will visit Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg on Friday and Saturday, while relief and rehabilitation minister Vijay Wadettiwar will tour five districts over the next four days. Patole too is visiting parts of Konkan on Thursday.

Leader of opposition in the legislative Assembly Devendra Fadnavis is on three-day tour of Konkan. After visiting affected villages of Raigad on Wednesday, he took stock of the relief work at the district collectorate. “Villagers in Raigad sustained huge losses as crops and horticulture across around 5,000 hectares have been destroyed. 70,000 households in 172 villages are still in the dark owing to disconnection of electricity supply. The villagers have been complaining about not having received compensation for their losses in Cyclone Nisarga last year. The state government should announce a sizable package to give relief to these residents,” he said.