Maharashta minister retorts to critics over selfie during flood relief operations

Mumbai: Reacting sharply to the opposition accusation about him 'taking selfies' while inspecting the flood situation, Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan on Friday said that he is working hard to provide relief to affected people and there should not be politics during times of disaster.

"A lot of people come and ask me for a selfie, I cannot say no to them. No one is seeing the hard work I am doing, I even went to an area by swimming to help people. This is a very tough time and I am doing everything that is possible to assist in relief operation", Mahajan told ANI.

He said that his priority is to help people while some people 'sitting in AC rooms' are unnecessarily discussing petty things. "There should not be politics at this time", he said.

Mahajan also said that he has been in the flood-affected areas of Kolhapur and Nashik since last five days and will be covering more areas for the next three days.

Read | Video: Maharashtra minister receives flak over selfie videos during flood survey

Mahajan has been facing flak after he shared two video clips where he was seen smiling and waving hands cheerfully while surveying parts of the flood-hit district.
Earlier in the day, Congress leader Nana Patole had demanded that an FIR should be filed against the minister under Maharashtra Disaster Management law of 2005 for negligence in tackling the disaster situation in the state.

"You must have all seen the video. The minister was seen enjoying while taking the stock of the situation in the flood-affected areas. An FIR should be filed under provisions of Maharashtra Disaster Management law," he said while speaking to ANI.

Several isolated parts of Maharashtra, particularly the Sangli and Kolhapur districts, are in the grip of devastating floods over the last few days following relentless rains in the region. Yesterday, the NDRF team evacuated thousands of people in the flood-ravaged districts.