Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his decision to personally visit landslide-hit Wayanad in Kerala. Modi will visit Wayanad on Saturday to review the ongoing relief and rehabilitation efforts in Kerala’s Wayanad district, which was hit by massive landslides, wiping out settlements of Chooralmala, Mundakkai, Attamala and Punchirimattom in Meppadi panchayat.
Rahul Gandhi, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, expressed hope that the PM Modi would declare the landslides in Wayanad a ‘national disaster’ once he witnesses the “extent of devastation firsthand.”
“Thank you, Modi ji, for visiting Wayanad to personally take stock of the terrible tragedy. This is a good decision,” Rahul Gandhi posted on X.
“I am confident that once the Prime Minister sees the extent of the devastation firsthand, he will declare it a national disaster,” he added.
The official death toll in the Wayand landslides has reached 226 on Friday even as many several people continue to remain missing.
Modi is expected to reach Kannur at around 11am and then undertake an aerial survey of the landslides-affected area in Wayanad.
He will be briefed about the evacuation effort and oversee the ongoing rehabilitation work. The prime minister will also visit the relief camp and hospital where he will meet and interact with the victims and survivors of the landslide.
Modi will then chair a review meeting during which he will be briefed in detail about the incident and the ongoing relief efforts.
Rahul Gandhi pushing Wayanad landslides to be declared as 'national disaster':Rahul Gandhi represented Wayanad in the previous Lok Sabha and was elected again from the constituency in the 2024 general elections but chose to keep Raebareli. His sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi will contest the Wayanad by-poll.
The Raebareli MP has been pushing for a ‘national disaster’ tag for the catastrophe that unfolded in Wayanad on July 30.
The BJP, however, said that such a concept doesn't exist under central government guidelines, a policy unchanged since the UPA government's tenure.
