A day after the ugly spat with Congress leaders at the Dehradun airport over who should ferry flood victims back to the State, TDP leaders stayed put in Uttarakhand and arranged another flight on Thursday for 105 stranded pilgrims rescued from inaccessible areas.
Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu too arrived in Hyderabad by the same flight after directing Adilabad MP Ramesh Rathod to stay back and conduct an aerial survey of Kedarnath and Badrinath on Friday with two helicopters for airlifting stranded pilgrims.
Ramesh Rathod, speaking to Express over phone from Dehradun, said a fourth flight would be organised for pilgrims on Friday. “We will fly the victims back home. We want them to have a comfortable journey and be in the midst of their families. Our flight will go to Hyderabad and from there, to Visakhapatnam,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Naidu monitored the situation with his party leaders at the NTR Trust Bhavan, Delhi and Dehradun. He wanted another flight arranged on Friday since a group of 250 AP pilgrims were on their way to Joshimuth on foot. The TDP is helping them reach Dehradun by vehicles. They are expected in Dehradun early Friday.
The Telugu Desam camp defended their action at the Dehradun airport Wednesday and blamed Congress Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao for triggering the trouble. Said Ramesh Rathod, “Yesterday, they created a ruckus. If they were really concerned about pilgrims, they should have arranged another flight today! There is no one here and no flight has been arranged. The ministers and MPs are holidaying in air-conditioned guest houses.”
Rathod said Hanumantha Rao’s outburst was unwarranted. “He probably grew jealous of the TDP as we were able to reach out to pilgrims. We have ensured that all the pilgrims are at one place. We have taken care of all their requirements. We fixed a flight for them not just to Hyderabad, but to Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada. But the state government’s flight was for only Hyderabad,” Rathod said.
In Hyderabad, TDP leader Reventh Reddy lashed out at Hanumantha Rao. “He created a scene at the airport just because the TDP was ahead of them in reaching out to the victims. The kind of language Hanumantha Rao and Union Minister P Balaram Naik had used made people lower their heads in shame,” he said, and demanded that the state government register cases against Hanumantha Rao and Balaram Naik for using abusive language.
Despite several attempts, Hanumantha Rao could not be contacted. He is learnt to be taking rest at a guest house in Dehradun.