New Delhi, February 7 CPI Rajya Sabha MP P. Sandosh Kumar wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday, alleging that the Centre had denied adequate assistance to Kerala following the devastating landslides in the Wayanad district in July 2024.
In his letter, Kumar stated that the landslides in Chooralmala, Mundakkai, and nearby areas of the Meppadi panchayat had claimed over 400 lives, displaced thousands of families, and caused damage worth several hundred crore rupees.
He alleged that despite repeated requests from the Kerala government and appeals by him and several MPs from the state, the Union government "refused to provide any special package or grant assistance, displaying a shocking lack of sensitivity to human suffering".
He also alleged that the Centre chose to provide assistance only in the form of a loan, which he said was insufficient in the humanitarian crisis.
The MP said this exposes the limits of the BJP's politics, which did not hesitate to use a disaster and widespread misery as a tool to financially strangle a state and its people "solely because Kerala has consistently rejected the BJP's agenda".
The CPI leader said the LDF government in Kerala undertook rehabilitation measures on its own, and that permanent houses and rehabilitation colonies for the affected families were nearing completion.
He said that a federal system cannot function if disaster relief is determined by "political considerations" rather than constitutional duty.
"The Union government is obligated to treat all states and all citizens equally in times of crisis," he said.
He urged the Union home minister and the NDA government to uphold federal responsibility and ensure that disaster relief is not influenced by "political considerations", stressing that all states must be treated equally in times of crisis.