Dehradun, July 11, 2013: If the BJP wants to construct a grand Ram temple at Ayodhya, then the Congress is step ahead to restore the pristine glory and sanctity of the battered Kedarnath temple, the highly-revered Hindu shrine in the country.

This is being done apparently to take a decisive political advantage in the 2014 general elections, well-placed Congress sources here claimed.

Both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi are personally monitoring the developments in the aftermath of the June 16-17 deluge on the day to day basis and are taking nothing to chance that can give BJP a handle to attack Congress over the Kedarnath issue as well as the vast devastation caused by flash floods and landslides in the hill state.

The two leaders were the first among those who took the aerial survey in the state and pressed the Army and the Air Force to take up the mammoth operations rescuing over 1.10 lakh pilgrims successfully in the Chardham shrine area.

The seriousness of the operation can be seen when not only home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde rushed to the hill state but top army commanders including chief of the army central command Lt Gen Anil Chait personally monitored the rescue operations from the hills.

Both army chief Gen Bikram Singh and Air Chief Marshall N A K Brownie also flew into the state to boost the morale of their men who had put their lives at stakes by working in the inclement weather, tough terrains and swollen rivers.

The party high command has also strongly advised both Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and top Congress leaders not to play politics on the tragedy and tour extensively in the flood-ravaged areas.

Not only the state Congress has activated all its district units to render help in the relief work, PCC president Yashpal Arya, who is also the state disaster management minister, is also touring the flood-hit areas these days.

After the state government did not show any alacrity in launching the relief and rescue operations in the first 2-3 days, both the prime minister and the Congress chief made direct intervention in the state and announced the financial aid of Rs 1,000 crore.

“The flood tragedy in Uttarakhand was not restricted to the hill state only. Pilgrims came from all the four corners of the country. Knowing well that any small mistake will be blown out of proportion, the party high command took all things in their hands. Thus a mammoth rescue and relief operations was launched on a war-footing,” said a top Congress leader.

Besides sending all the top state Congress leaders on the ground zero, the state Congress also sought help from NSUI and Sewa Dal workers in the relief works. In a tactical move, the party has also sent its leaders to all those areas where the state administration has not reached so far.

For example, places like Purola in Uttarkashi district and Jaunpur in Tehri districts are being covered by the second rung of Congress leaders. The Congress is sending relief materials to these areas and sought reports from the designated leaders on the relief work. “We are getting all such reports and have started acting on their recommendations also,” said Arya.

Congress has also asked the close confidants of union water resources minister Harish Rawat not to politicize the matter related to the devastation. State assembly speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal, who hit the headlines by claiming that more than 10,000 people were killed in the floods has also been asked to remain silent on the issue. Even Rawat, who made an extensive tour of both Garhwal and Kumaon regions distanced himself from the media.

With the image of the chief minister being dented in the wake of the disaster, the centre has also set up a cabinet monitoring committee to oversee the reconstruction and rehabilitation programmes in the hill state. The party high command has also asked the state government not to forget the corruption scandals of the previous BJP government where there had been widespread irregularities in the Rs 500 crore relief aid.

On the other hand, Congress is finding itself on a win-win situation. “Corruption scandals that were plaguing the UPA government took the backseat immediately after the media focused on the deluge caused by floods and cloudbursts. This has already put us in an advantage position,” admitted another Congress leader.

Source: Business Standard, DT. July 11, 2013.