Publicity Vs Public Interest: Cyclone Gaja Victims Protest While Government Distributes Relief Material With Amma’s Picture

Protests have broken out in the regions affected by Cyclone Gaja as the locals feel slighted by the lack of the necessary relief assistance provided to them, reports India Today.

Cyclone Gaja defied all the initial estimates as it wreaked havoc across Tamil Nadu. The devastation caused by the Cyclone could only be realised four days after it hit.

Convoys of ministers have been stopped on their way, and government vehicles have been set ablaze. The AIADMK government has been accused of apathy as Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami visited the affected regions only four days later.

The CM also skipped Nagapattinam and Thiruvarur districts which were severely affected due to the rains as he cut his trip short midway. After that, AIADMK’s senior leadership took over and continued the relief distribution efforts with party symbols intact.

The Chief Minister visited the districts on Monday ( November 19) in what was termed as a ‘branding exercise’ as the relief goods being distributed carried big images of both Palaniswami and former CM Jayalalithaa on them.

DMK President and Opposition leader, MK Stalin, called EPS ‘Emperor Nero’, a Roman Emperor who burnt alive several people on the stake for lighting up a feast.

DMK spokesperson Saravanan said, "Milking a disaster is unacceptable. How can a convict's (Jayalalithaa) image be used on the relief goods?"

TTV Dhinakaran, leader of Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, slammed EPS for his lack of effort. "At a time when people are suffering due to the cyclone, the chief minister who should have offered a word of solace has instead cancelled his trip citing weather conditions. This has further saddened the people," he wrote on Twitter.