Priyanka Gandhi slams Centre for not providing relief package to Wayanad

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Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday accused the Centre of denying assistance to landslides-affected people of Wayanad due to politics and asserted that there should be no discrimination in times of natural disasters.

Her remarks came after MPs from Kerala, including Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi, staged a protest in Parliament premises Saturday, demanding a relief package from the Centre for landslides-hit Wayanad.

Staging their demonstration in front of the steps of the Makar Dwar, the MPs raised slogans calling for "justice for Wayanad". They also held a banner with "Justice for Wayanad, provide relief package for Wayanad" written on it.

Speaking with reporters, Priyanka Gandhi said, "We are very disturbed by the fact that the government is refusing to give a special package to Wayanad. We have gone to the home minister, we have written to the prime minister and to everyone possible, to declare that this as a calamity of a severe nature and to give a special package."  Similar large-scale destruction took place in Himachal Pradesh where the Congress is in power and there also they have been demanding for the longest time that the Centre provides assistance, she said.

"In Wayanad, the whole country has seen the devastation, the pain and suffering of the people and yet just because of politics, the central government, in both cases, is refusing to give what is due to the victims," she said.

"They are citizens of India. There should be no discrimination in times of natural disasters, in times of pain, in times of suffering of any kind. That is the time when the central government, the PM should be the custodians of every Indian citizen's life and every Indian citizen's livelihood," the Congress general secretary said, flanked by the protesting Kerala MPs.

"That is the time they are supposed to set politics aside and give the assistance required. We are actually deeply disappointed because we expected that highlighting this issue, going to them explaining the kind of pain and suffering (that has taken place)... the PM himself has seen.

"We thought out of humanity and compassion what is due to the victims of Wayanad would be given to them," Priyanka Gandhi said.

She said the MPs are still hoping the government will have compassion and humanity and do what needs to be done because this is a matter that is above politics.

Asked about Home Minister Amit Shah's response to the demands made by the Kerala MPs earlier this month, she said the note just talked about the expenditure made like on the fuel of the Indian Air Force aircraft.

The damage is Rs 2,000 crore but it depends on the government how much it wants to provide, she said.

Earlier this month, a delegation of parliamentarians from Kerala led by the Wayanad MP met Shah, seeking the Centre's support for landslide-affected people while urging him to rise above politics and be more forthcoming in providing relief.

Priyanka Gandhi had said there were landslides-affected people in Wayanad who had no support system left. If the Centre cannot step up in such circumstances, it sends a very bad message to the entire country and especially to the victims, she had said.

Priyanka Gandhi asserted last week that disasters should not be about politics and said the people of landslides-hit Wayanad are looking towards the state and central governments with hope and "don't need excuses".

She stressed the people of Wayanad need urgent help to be able to rebuild their lives with dignity.

The disaster, which struck Kerala on July 30, devastated large parts of three villages -- Punchirimattam, Chooralmala, and Mundakkai -- along with sections of Attamala in Wayanad. According to the government, the disaster claimed 231 lives.