Rahul Gandhi urges Centre to help flood-ravaged Kerala

Congress leader and MP Rahul Gandhi on Sunday urged the Centre to help the state in dealing with the natural calamity.

Gandhi, who represents Wayanad constituency in the Lok Sabha, is on a two-day visit to review the relief measure in the district. On the first day, he visited relief camps and held a meeting with local officers at the Collectorate Office in Malappuram.

"I spent the day here today looking at the situation. It is quite a difficult situation. We just had a meeting and we went into the details of the rescue operation... We had a presentation. The general consensus is that the operation is going okay," he told reporters.

"I also went to some of the sites [affected by floods] where there are landslides. In the camp, people were saying they need medicines and cleaning equipment. This is a tragedy and rest of the nation and the national government must help Kerela," he added.

Gandhi said that he called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi and apprised him about the situation and urged him to help the people of Kerela.

"I also called up the Prime Minister and I mentioned to him the tragedy that had taken place and that the Central government must help the state," he said.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi visited a relief camp at Boodanam Church in Nilambur, Malappuram in Kerala and interacted with the flood victims along with the help of local leaders.

Relentless rains over the last two days in Kerala have led to many deaths and destruction to property. So far, 60 people have lost their lives in the deluge across the state. Eight people are missing from Wayanad alone.