Kerala, we are all with you: Rahul
ALAPUZHA/KOCHI: Terming the Kerala floods as “a very big tragedy”, Congress president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday assured that his party will put pressure on the central and state governments to provide compensation which they “owe” to the affected people.
Visiting the flood-ravaged areas of Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts, Gandhi urged Congress workers to actively participate in the relief and rehabilitation operations and help the people to make their ravaged houses liveable.
“It has been a very big tragedy for all of us. I want all of you to know that you are not alone and we are all with you,” Gandhi said.
He arrived in Kerala Tuesday morning for a two-day visit, and went to relief camps, days after the deadliest deluge in the last 100 years left a trail of destruction and claimed 474 lives in rain-related incidents since May 29 when the monsoon set in over the state.
“The government owes you compensation and the government has to help you rebuild your houses... it is our job to bring pressure on the government,” he told people sheltered in a camp in Aluva near Kochi, one of the worst affected areas.
He said his party “cannot do very big things” as it was not in power, but promised to extend help in every way it was possible.
“We will also apply pressure on the BJP government in Delhi,” he told people at a relief camp in North Parvoor in Ernakulam.
Gandhi hailed every Keralite for standing together at the time of the calamity, saying they should be proud of themselves.
“All religions, all communities, all castes, all regions stood together and fought the tragedy.”
Earlier, in Alappuzha, he saluted fishermen who played a key role in rescuing those marooned. Claiming that the community was facing a crisis similar to that by the farmers, he said if Congress comes to power at the Centre, a separate fisheries ministry would be set up.
HELPS HEART ATTACK VICTIM FLY FIRST
NEW DELHI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi delayed his helicopter by at least twenty-minutes on Tuesday in Kerala to help a woman battling cardiac arrest rush to the hospital. Local leaders said Gandhi was in Alleppy district. When he was at the Christian College helipad, he saw an air ambulance waiting for permission to fly the woman. As soon as Gandhi learnt about the situation, he told authorities to allow the air ambulance to fly first.