Modi speaks to Italian PM Georgia Meloni, thanks her for Italy G7 Summit invitation
The G7 Summit is scheduled to be held in Italy from June 13-15.
press trust of india
New Delhi/Dehradun, 1 July
The Congress and the BJP were embroiled in a bitter war of words today over the Uttarakhand disaster with the saffron party demanding the dismissal of the Vijay Bahuguna government for “inept” handling of the crisis prompting an angry response.
As the rival parties were locked in a wordy duel on Twitter, BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively, charged the Uttarakhand government with failing to effectively handle the tragedy caused by floods and landslides in rain fury a fortnight ago. Mr Jaitley, who said the Uttarakhand government had failed to respond to the situation, had also dubbed as a farce the Cabinet’s recommendation on CBI autonomy.
Mrs Swaraj in her response noted that the BJP leaders did not visit the flood-affected state as Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had said that “nobody including himself was allowed to land anywhere.”
AICC General Secretary Ambika Soni also hit back at the BJP saying she was saddened at Sushma’s demand.
“I am sad that an Opposition leader, who is a contender for PM’s post, has given a statement that the Uttarakhand government should be dismissed. I am very sad about it,” Mrs Soni told reporters in Dehradun.
The new head of the Communications Department for the Congress Ajay Maken posted a series of tweets taking potshots at the BJP over the Uttarakhand issue. “Pyre of many Victims of this Natural Calamity still warm. First, the BJP tried to take credit of evacuating 15,000 in a day,” was another tweet of Maken in a jibe at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Meanwhile, facing allegations from the BJP of not taking timely action to rescue Bihari pilgrims in Uttarakhand, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar today made a veiled attack on Mr Modi saying he was no ‘Rambo’ but took steps for assisting pilgrims there.
Advertisement
