In response to the opposition BJP’s criticism of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s visit to the cyclone-ravaged Konkan area of Maharashtra, he said he was at least taking stock of the situation on the ground and not doing an aerial survey in a helicopter.
His comments seemed to be directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who recently conducted an aerial survey in Gujarat, where cyclone Tauktae wreaked havoc earlier this week.
Uddhav Thackeray visited the Konkan districts of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg on Friday to assess the situation following the cyclone, and instructed the authorities to complete the crop loss assessment within two days.
BJP leaders in Maharashtra, on the other hand, attacked Mr Thackeray during his tour.
Though former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed surprise that Uddhav Thackeray was making political statements during his three-hour Konkan visit, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council Pravin Darekar questioned how Uddhav Thackeray could comprehend the scale of the cyclone’s damage in just three hours.
Uddhav Thackeray, when asked about the BJP’s criticism, said on Friday, “It’s fine if my tour was four hours long. In the very least, I’m on the ground assessing the situation rather than in a plane for a photo shoot. Personally, I am a photographer.”
At Malvan in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district, he said, “I have not come here to respond to opposition criticism.”
Cyclone Tautkae, which made landfall in Gujarat on Monday night, also wreaked havoc on Goa, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, among other states along the west coast.
