That Prime Minister Narendra Modi was yet to make even a phone call to check the plight of the victims of Ockhi was an oft-heard complaint across Kerala ever since the cyclone ravaged its coast in the last days of November. The prime minister's political opponents had used every opportunity to raise the matter wherever possible. But on Tuesday, Modi tried to make up for his absence by reaching out to the victims of Ockhi in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Vowing to spare no effort to trace around 700 missing fishermen, the prime minister said: “This is indeed a sad moment for you. The central government is totally with you''.
"This is not the time for a lecture and I assure you that we will do everything to help you and that is why I myself have come. We are all with you and will do everything. With Christmas round the corner, we wish all the missing return back," he said to the fisherfolks in Kanyakumari.
Modi had arrived in Kerala around noon and had flown to Kanyakumari where he met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Eadppadi Palaniswami. Tamil Nadu has sought a Rs 9,300 package for Ockhi relief measures.
The prime minister also flew to Lakshadweep where he met top officials and discussed the situation. The island was also ravaged by the cyclone.
Later, while meeting the fishermen in Poonthura in Thiruvannathapuram, he assured that the government will ensure the missing ones are back by Christmas. His decision to make a visit to Poonthura was made public at the last minute as the intelligence inputs had warned of possible protests from locals.
“The authorities had told us that the prime minister would not be visiting us and wanted a delegation from here to meet him at Raj Bjavan,'' Vicar of Poonthura parish Fr Justin Jude told THE WEEK.
It is learnt that the locals had refused to go to Raj Bhavan to meet Modi and wanted the prime minister to come and visit them.
“If the prime minister can fly to Kanyakumari, why can't he visit Poonthura which is barely 10 km from the Raj Bhavan,'' asked Peter Clement, a native of Poonthura.
“We may not be a BJP vote bank like the ones in Kanyakumari. But as a prime minister, he must treat everyone equally,'' he added.
Apparently, sensing this sentiment among the locals, the prime minister changed his plan.
During the meeting, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged for a package worth Rs 1,843 crore. The chief minister also wanted that Okchi be declared as a national calamity. The prime minister is learnt to have agreed to consider these pleas favourably.
Meanwhile, CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan questioned the delay in prime minister's visit. “The prime minister did not even care to make a call to the chief minister to know what had happened. He was behaving as the chief minister of Gujarat all these days,'' he alleged.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi, too, during his visit to the state last week, had raised the matter.
