Thiruvananthapuram | The BJP in Kerala on Tuesday accused the ruling CPI(M) and the Opposition Congress of using the Wayanad landslide tragedy for their political gains.
The CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-headed UDF are holding hartal separately today to protest against the lack of Central assistance for the landslide victims in the mountain district even months after the disaster.
Terming the hartal as "drama", the saffron party alleged that it was being staged with an intention to stop BJP's good show in the November 20 bypoll in Palakkad.
Addressing a press conference here, senior BJP leader and former union minister V Muraleedharan strongly rejected the allegations of the CPI(M) and the Congress over the lack of Central assistance to the landslide survivors.
He charged that the "INDI Alliance" was unleashing a false campaign against the union government over "additional" Central assistance to Wayanad.
The Centre has never said that it won't provide "additional" financial assistance but the landslide tragedy is being used for political gains (in the state), he said.
He sought to know from the CPI(M) whether its government has submitted the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) report in connection with the landslide.
Muraleedharan further alleged that the Congress, who had distributed worm-infested rice to the landslide survivors in Meppadi in Wayanad, wouldn't have the courage to ask this.
He said state Revenue Minister K Rajan is also keeping mum on the matter.
The respective states, which claimed to have received the Central aid, got the assistance after considering the PDNA reports submitted by them, he explained.
He accused the Left government in the state for not following the rules and norms in this regard.
The BJP leader charged that the state government was not even ready to hold discussions with voluntary organisations who have offered to construct houses for those who had lost the same in the tragedy. Not a piece of land was handed over to them by the state government in the last four months to construct houses for the survivors, he added.
He said that the Central government had stated that a high-level committee would hold a meeting to decide on declaring the landslides in Mundakkai and Chooralmala as severe disaster, with further actions to follow accordingly.
He also urged the people of the state to realise the CPI(M)-Congress conspiracy to use the disaster-affected persons for their political gains.
The state, last week, witnessed an intense political row following the Centre's recent letter to state government stating that under the existing guidelines of SDRF and NDRF, there is no provision to declare any calamity a 'national disaster".
The disaster, which struck on July 30, devastated large parts of three villages --Punchirimattam, Chooralmala, and Mundakkai--along with sections of Attamala in Wayanad.
As per the government, the deadly disaster claimed 231 lives, while 47 people are still missing.
