The Bharatiya Janata Party has averred that the Congress is unable to digest the felicitation of rat miners who played a crucial role in the Silkyara tunnel rescue operation. This is the reason why the Congress is spreading rumours, the BJP alleged. The BJP State media in-charge Manveer Singh Chauhan said that the attitude of the Congress towards the Silkyara tunnel rescue has been negative since the beginning. When the rescue operation was underway, the Congress was talking about the reasons for the disaster instead of boosting the morale of the family members of the trapped labourers. Even at that time the Congress was spreading disinformation about the rescue operation, Chauhan said.

He said, “When the government was busy extricating the trapped workers, getting their medical check up done and sending them home, the Congress leaders were making statements about honouring the rat miners in addition to spreading disinformation.Experts from around the world and the latest machinery were deployed in the rescue operation but the grit shown by the rat miners in the final phase of the operation can never be forgotten. They risked their lives and made the rescue operation easier. Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami first felicitated the trapped labourers who were rescued from the Silkyara tunnel and after that the rat miners were felicitated at CM residence. Each of the rat miners was also presented with Rs 50,000 but the Congress did not like this and started spreading misinformation.”

He opined that the misinformation being spread by the Congress is inspired by a low level of politics. The intentions of the Congress have been clear since the start because when the whole nation was concerned about the safety and rescue of the trapped workers, the Congress was seeking an inquiry. The Prime Minister and Home minister were taking regular updates from the CM on the rescue operation while the CM himself set up a temporary camp office at Silkyara. The Congress had objected even to Dhami setting up a temporary camp office in Silkyara, he said. Chauhan further said that on behalf of the State’s people, the CM also thanked all the agencies involved in the rescue operation. The rat miners were felicitated in a special function which the Congress is unable to digest, he added.