Punjab Cong flays Sukhbir over evacuation of pilgrims from

Punjab Congress today lashed out at Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal for claiming to have evacuated 800 pilgrims from Shri Hemkunt Sahib and said it was unfortunate that the SAD-BJP government was not prepared to cope with the situation.
PPCC president Partap Singh Bajwa alleged that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was shedding crocodiles tears for pilgrims returning from Uttarakhand and said Badal had returned from London to attend Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's June 23 rally at Pathankot, and not for the pilgrims.
In a statement here, Bajwa said it was time to extend moral support and share the plight of thousands of pilgrims trapped in Uttarakhand and added, he was shocked over fake claims on evacuation of pilgrims from Uttarakhand and advised Sukhbir not to make political capital on human tragedy.

If the chairman of Shri Hemkunt Sahib Trust's statement is to be believed, not even a single pilgrim was rescued by the team sent by SAD-BJP government, as the chopper hired by it was idly parked at Jolly Grant airport near Dehradun and didn't even make a single sortie, Bajwa said.
The chopper is said to be not air worthy to fly in hilly areas, he alleged.
Bajwa said that the 800 pilgrims which Badal had claimed, were actually evacuated by the Army.
Yesterday, a spokesman of the government had first claimed that 800 pilgrims were evacuated from Hemkunt Sahib, but later put the figure of those saved to 355.