The government's alleged delay in disaster response is intensifying into a major political tussle.
A day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan dismissed accusations against the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority, Opposition Leader V D Satheesan has come out strongly against the Chief Minister saying he was intolerant of criticism. "It was with proof that we said that the SDMA was a failure," Satheesan told reporters in Kottayam on Thursday.
Soon after, CPM's acting state secretary A Vijayaraghavan unleashed a personal tirade against Satheesan. "Satheesan's tendency to politicise even natural calamities does not befit his post as Opposition Leader," Vijayaraghan said in a statement on Thursday.
Vijaraghavan asked if Satheesan had the technical know-how to predict the time and place of landslides. "Even experts have pointed out that Kerala had responded commendably to the disaster," he said.
Vijayaraghavan said Satheesan was an Opposition Leader who had the backing of only the High Command and not of his own MLAs.
"It is to hide this embarrassment that Satheesan was making such comments," the CPM acting secretary said.
Satheesan said that even global agencies like NASA had warned of a cyclonic formation moving towards Kerala from the Arabian Sea.
"The IMD, too, had warned that the formation was developing into an extremely heavy rainfall phenomenon," Satheesan said. "What were the SDMA people doing? The 'red alert' was declared long after the formation hit the border areas of Idukki in the morning," the Opposition Leader said.
He reiterated the charge that no rescue teams had reached Kokkayar on the day of the landslide. "The landslide had happened at 10 a.m. and many people including five kids were buried under the debris. But the rescue operations began only a day after," Satheesan said. "When people in the area told us this, I felt it unbelievable that no rescue team had reached the spot," he said.
Satheesan said that the Chief Minister was surrounded by lackeys who kept all the bad information from him. "We are facing the fury of nature for the fourth consecutive year. Our warning systems have to improve. But the Chief Minister cannot tolerate criticism. If you do, he will call you an anti-national. Modi style," Satheesan said.
Hitting back, Vijayaraghavan said that it had become an habit of Satheesan to heap the blame personally on the Chief Minister for any problem. "He employs such deplorable methods because he could not take on the Chief Minister politically," he said.
Vijayaraghavan also hinted that the Congress leader was too soft on the BJP. "Though he finds time to criticise the Chief Minister, Satheesan is eager to give a good conduct certificate for the Prime Minister," Vijayaraghavan said.
Further, the CPM leader said that the government had responded to the disaster in an exemplary manner. "Ministers were directly involved in rescue operations in affected areas. No one saw the Opposition Leader anywhere," he said.
