Congress urges PM to be more generous over aid to Kerala

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that he was playing politics on the issue of flood relief and asked him to show large-heartedness in providing more Central assistance to flood-hit Kerala as the Rs 500-crore aid was “too little, too late.”

Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill asked the Prime Minister to declare the Kerala floods a national calamity.

Mr Shergill also said that Mr Modi “mistreating” Kerala by not extending a helping hand has once again displayed that “he does not believe in the spirit of cooperative federalism or the spirit of ‘Team India’.” He further added, “A state which is witnessing a disaster of over Rs 19,000 crore has only got a paltry sum of Rs 500 crore from Prime Minister who has spent Rs 5,000 crore on his self-promotion and publicity, Rs 35 crore on his fitness videos and Rs 1,100 crore on the BJP headquarters.”

The Congress had criticised the Central government for releasing ‘only Rs 500 crore’ for the Kerala floods.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi had demanded that the Kerala floods be declared a ‘national disaster’. He also said, “ Increasing funds allocated for Kerala relief to 500 crores is a good step but nowhere near enough. It is critical you declare the floods as a national disaster. Please do not vacillate as the people of Kerala are suffering.” Almost all state governments have already announced relief packages for Kerala with the state of Telangana announcing 25 crores as relief.