Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweet shows concern for Bihar, not Karnataka, say parties

Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tweet expressing concern over the floods in Bihar drew the ire of leaders of opposition parties, who alleged he lacked sympathy for the flood victims in Karnataka as no special grants have been released.

A BJP MLA too was of the view that Modi did not care much for the Karnataka victims as much as he did for those flood-hit people in Bihar.

The Karnataka leaders minced no words to highlight the alleged indifference of Centre towards the Karnataka and slammed the 25 BJP Lok Sabha members for their alleged inaction to draw the Centres attention towards the agony of the flood victims.

The Prime Minister had tweeted on Monday, "Spoke to Nitish Kumar Ji regarding the flood situation in parts of the state. Agencies are working with the local administration to assist the affected. Centre stands ready to provide all possible further assistance that may be required."

Following the tweet, the ruling BJP MLA from Vijayapura city Basanagouda Patil Yatnal said Modi's tweet made people conclude that he has concerns for Bihar flood victims and not with those affected in Karnataka.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said people were forced to conclude that the Prime Minister did not bother.

"People are commenting on Facebook that the Prime Minister tweets about Bihar and not about Karnataka, maybe because there are no immediate elections here. The party should take this seriously, otherwise it will lose its base in the South," Yatnal opined.

The BJP MLA even claimed that two power centres have emerged in the party - one in Delhi and the other in Bengaluru, with the former wanting to (politically) finish off Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.

Alleging that whatever was happening in Karnataka was target-based politics, he said, "Just to finish off a person, you cannot finish off Karnataka."

Reacting to Modi's tweet, former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah sought to know why there was 'hatred' for Karnataka and no response from Modi despite the severe floods having ravaged many parts of the state.

"More than 60 days since parts Karnataka suffered from floods. No shelter, nothing to eat, cattle dying, crops lost but response from Narendra Modi is missing. Why this hatred towards Karnataka?" he tweeted. Also, he questioned the alleged inaction of the 25 BJP Lok Sabha members from Karnataka, asking them what they were doing.

Former deputy Chief Minister and Congress leader Dr G Parameshwara said he appreciated the "speedy aid" extended to Bihar, but tweeted, "We cannot but think about the gross apathy shown towards Karnataka by the Centre. Karnataka, and the South, belong to India too, Narendra Modi Avare (Ji)!".

In another tweet, he said, "On days like these, we cannot but wonder if Bihar's 40 seats vis-a-vis Karnataka's paltry 28 is the reason why Nitish Kumar gets a call, but Yediyurappa's efforts to talk about Karnataka floods get rejected." The JD(S) too flayed the Prime Minister. It tweeted: "Narendra Modi Avare (Ji), why can't you show similar interest in helping Karnataka? You visit Karnataka multiple times during elections but you do not want to sympathise with the people now?"

However, Union Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi defended the Prime Minister. "No other state got the kind of relief Karnataka got." Yediyurappa has expressed his gratitude, too. "When we all went there (Delhi), they (Central-level leaders) hailed Yediyurappa saying that he has been doing a good job," Angadi told reporters in Belagavi. The Union Minister termed the media reports about the lack of grants as unfortunate. It is unfortunate. You all are saying no relief grant came from the Centre. NDRF funds are always with the deputy commissioners. Both State and the Centre are working in tandem. So there is no need for anyone to get worried about it, Angadi said.

The floods in Karnataka last month wreaked havoc with almost all the rivers in spate affecting 22 out of 30 districts and as many as 84 people lost their lives. Five lakh houses were damaged, crops in lakhs of hectares were washed away and there was huge loss of livestock as well. The state government, in its report to the Centre, estimated that the loss due to flood was above Rs 35,000 crore.