PM Modi visited Wayanad in Kerala on Saturday to take stock of the damage caused by the severe landslides on July 30, which claimed over 200 lives.
Ahead of PM Modi's visit, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi reiterated his demand for declaring the landslides as a national disaster.
BJP hit back, accusing the former Wayanad MP of politicising the tragedy to its political advantage. BJP General Secretary and national spokesperson Anil Antony said that when it came to disaster management laws put in place by the Central government, Gandhi seemed completely unaware about it, adding that this was not the right time for political manouvering.
In an exclusive conversation, Anil Antony pointed out that Rahul Gandhi, as a two-decade parliamentarian with the experience of being the party president, and now Leader of the Opposition, should be aware of the rules. He referred to what Mullappally Ramachandran, then Minister of State in the UPA-II government, had replied on 2013: "There is no provision to declare a natural disaster as a national disaster."
Anil Antony, son of former UPA minister A K Antony, hit out further at the state government, which ignored the warnings about the potential risks in the Western Ghats due to heavy rains. Emphasizing that central teams were sent promptly for relief and rescue operations after the disaster, he charged that the Opposition concentrated on political narratives rather than standing in support to help in rescue efforts. He had also asked why Rahul Gandhi, the winner of the Wayanad constituency in 2019 and 2024, delayed his visit to the affected area.
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