New Delhi:

As thousands suffer and are still awaiting relief in Uttarakhand, the political class is involved in a tug of war over the relief.

Disaster tourism by political bosses across the spectrum, from the Congress president to the BJP chief, from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Prime Minister aspirant Narendra Modi, as the flood-ravaged hill state comes to terms with its mammoth tragedy, the political class is scoring its own brownie points.

The Centre has now officially directed the Uttarakhand government to not allow any other state governments to unilaterally initiate rescue efforts.

A move perhaps prompted by the Gujarat Chief Minister who landed in Uttarakhand and tweeted about his government oranising special flights from Dehradun to Ahmedabad to bring back those affected. His counterpart in Madhya Pradesh though offered more than Modi but was more silent about it.

Uttar Pradesh government has announced a financial help of Rs 25 crore, the highest so far. Congress ruled states of Maharashtra, Delhi and Haryana have all offered Rs 10 crore for relief. Ashok Gehlot Chief Minister of Rajasthan has given Rs 2 crore to the state and Karnataka added another Rs 5 crore to the relief fund.

Help has also come from states of Bihar and Odisha, which have given Rs 5 crores each.

When man and nature are trying to come to terms with a disaster of this magnitude, politicians of all hues want to take credit for saving and caring for the pilgrims. But the truth is that it's the jawans whose selfless service saved lives and kept hope alive for thousands of stranded people.

source:http://ibnlive.in.com