As Kerala- the southern tip of India- gets ravaged by incessant rainfall on an unprecedented scale, both regional and national political parties made efforts to drive votes into their fold. From day one, they started placing the blames for the catastrophe on their rival parties. Each party stood, or at least pretended to be standing by the common people. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan made humongous blunder on twitter, while the state reeling under difficult situations, by saying PM Modi offered only Rs.600cr, UAE on the other hand offered Rs.700cr. CM Vijayan later faced severe criticism when responsible authorities clarified that no such promise was made by the UAE.
As Kerala ruled by a left leaning party- media, therefore, gave full coverage round the clock and nearly all states came up for help. With Maharashtra donating Rs.20cr to Kerala relief fund, other states helped with around equal amounts. The center also swung into action to assess the losses the state suffered by the continuous downpour. When the waters receded, several NGOs and agencies poured in and gave a helping hand to the people recuperating from the damage.
So far so good, but the problem pops up when 4 Indian other states witness nature’s ugliest face. Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal received massive rainfall at a time when media was busy giving thorough coverage to Kerala alone. As there was no media glamour- hardly any state came forward with their helping hand. The situation raises a number of unanswered questions- is media selectively favouring leftists-led states? Is our help confined to the places where camera is? Above all, will people living in others states not feel discriminated against?
Ordinary youths from Assam took to social media and expressed their anguish. Assam is geographically situated on the bank of Brahmaputra river and suffers massive floods virtually every year. Some of them clearly pointed out that their state being neglected while Kerala is given full state. Read below what Rohit Sakia has to say…
