Outmanoeuvred by Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu in airlifting some of the pilgrims back to the State, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday dashed to New Delhi to meet the pilgrims staying at Andhra Pradesh Bhavan.
Under fire from the Opposition parties for laxity in rescuing the pilgrims stranded in flood-hit Uttarakhand, Reddy made a face saving attempt by landing in New Delhi and spending the day talking to the pilgrims. A day earlier, the TDP chief had arranged a special flight to bring a group of 160 pilgrims from New Delhi to Hyderabad. The party also provided free air tickets to another 20 pilgrims on Tuesday.
While the TDP had clearly managed to throw the Government off balance in terms of bringing solace to the pilgrims, the Chief Minister said that it was not proper to politicise a natural calamity.
Reddy told the reporters that the State Government was trying to arrange a direct flight from Dehradun to Hyderabad for the remaining pilgrims. “As per our information of the 2,500 pilgrims who had gone on Char Dham Yatra from Andhra Pradesh, 1,500 have returned home safely,” he said.
“Every pilgrim from the State will be brought back safely,” he said, appealing not to politicise the issue.
However, the TDP was unlikely to leave the matters there. Even as party president N Chandrababu Naidu was camping in Delhi and sought an appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the relief and rescue measures, other TDP leaders were busy targeting the AP Bhavan officials.
TDP MlC Yanamala Ramakrishnudu demanded suspension of Resident Commissioner Shashank Goel for removing the health camp set up by the NTR Memorial Trust at AP Bhavan. He also found fault with the State Government for making travel arrangements only for 100 of the1500 pilgrims.
TDP leaders camping in Dehradun have alleged that Telugu-speaking pilgrims were being discriminated against in rescue. The same issue was also raised by senior State Minister D Sridhar Babu but Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna denied it saying rescue operations were being undertaken by defence forces.