Centre's no to disaster aid: LDF and UDF hold hartal in Wayanad
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Wayanad: To protest the Centre's ignorance of Wyanad landslides and refusal to remit assistance for the rehabilitation of the disaster victims, the ruling LDF and opposition UDF held a dawn-to-dusk hartal in the Wayanad district on Tuesday.
Both the ruling and the opposition parties wanted the BJP-led union government to declare the landslide calamity as a national disaster and provide the required assistance for the relief and rehabilitation of the survivors as soon as possible.
However, the BJP termed the hartal as "drama" and alleged that it was being staged with the intent to stop the BJP's good show in the November 20 by-poll in Palakkad.
The saffron party also accused the CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-headed UDF of using the Wayanad landslide tragedy for "political gains".
In many places, those supporting the hartal blocked vehicles, causing traffic snarls since morning.
The state-run KSRTC buses could be seen operating in several areas with police escorts. However, comparatively less in number, private vehicles were plying without any hurdles.
Both LDF and UDF carried out protest marches separately in major centres of the district.
While the LDF alleged that the denying of central assistance to Wayanad was due to political reasons and the union government harboured grudges towards the state, the UDF criticised the Left government in the state for the continuing plight of the landslide survivors.
However, senior BJP leader and former union minister V Muraleedharan charged that the "INDI Alliance" was unleashing a false campaign against the union government over "additional" central assistance to Wayanad.
He also urged the people of the state to realise the CPI(M)-Congress "conspiracy" to use the disaster-hit persons for their political gains.
The disaster, which struck on July 30, devastated large parts of three villages --Punchirimattam, Chooralmala, and Mundakkai--along with sections of Attamala in Wayanad.
As per the government, the deadly disaster claimed 231 lives, while 47 people are still missing.