Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday visited rain-ravaged parts of Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Puducherry and sought speedy action to ameliorate the suffering of the people, saying politics should not be done over relief work.
The Centre and state government needs to be “much more responsive” to the suffering of the people and take action as fast as possible, he said.
“I would like to tell the Government of Tamil Nadu and Government of India that they need to do a lot more to the people of Tamil Nadu; they need to be much more responsive. The state government and the national government need to respond to this and take action as fast as possible,” he said.
He stressed that politics should not be done over flood relief work in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and the focus should be on reaching out to as many people as possible.
“I think that it is important that instead of doing politics at this time, we (should) try and make sure that the people of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are given the relief that they need,” he said.
The Congress leader also handed over relief material to affected people. He said “right now” the effort should be on giving help to as many people as possible.
Gandhi, who arrived from Delhi by a special flight, drove directly to the rain-affected areas to meet people. He said he was visiting Puduchery and Tamil Nadu to see for himself “what has happened” following the torrential rains. “I wanted to meet the people,” he added.
The Amethi MP expressed solidarity with the victims and interacted with people at Cuddalore, Mudichur (Kancheepuram district) and Villivakkam.
Mingling freely with the people, he consoled a wailing woman at Cuddalore who hugged him and explained her misery caused by the monsoon fury.
Chaotic scenes were witnessed briefly when he left the Mudichur. In Puducherry, Gandhi visited affected areas like Rodierpet, Shanmugha Nagar and Eachankaadu, and handed over relief materials to affected people.