Shah 'deliberately' skipped flood affected Kerala, chose BJP ruled states for ariel surveys: CPIM

The CPI(M) politburo on Monday claimed that Home Minister Amit Shah "deliberately skipped" the aerial survey of flood-affected Kerala and instead chose to visit BJP-ruled states like Maharashtra and Karnataka.

In a statement, the party expressed concern at the loss of life and destruction of property and livestock due to the floods in various parts of the country.

"The home minister in his aerial survey of flood-hit areas chose to go only to BJP ruled states of Maharashtra & Karnataka. It appears that he deliberately skipped the survey of the badly affected Kerala," it alleged.

"Some elements associated with the RSS-BJP are campaigning on social media, asking people not to donate to the Kerala Chief Minister's Relief Fund. Political partisanship is least expected in times of natural calamities and unfortunate deaths of people," it said.

Kerala is the worst affected in the floods so far with 76 dead and around 58 missing. An official update at 11 am said 2,87,585 people have taken shelter in 1,654 relief centres in the state.

"Forty lives have been lost in Maharashtra, 32 in Karnataka and 24 in Gujarat. Major rivers like the Tungabhadra, Krishna in AP/Telangana and their tributaries are in spate and continue to cause immense destruction and damage.

"The PB of the CPI(M) calls upon the central government to render all required assistance to the state governments to tackle this calamity," the statement said.