KANYAKUMARI: Congress President-elect, Rahul Gandhi, after giving a patient hearing to the woes of fishermen and farmers hit by the Ockhi cyclone in Kanyakumari district, promised on Thursday to exert 'tremendous pressure' on the government in his capacity as opposition leader for their quick relief and rehabilitation.
In a brief address after patiently listening to the complaints of the fisher-folks, many of whose kin remain still missing and of the farmers, who incurred a heavy crop loss in the premises of St Jude’s church at Chinnathurai coastal hamlet in Kanyakumari, he said, “I am sad to come here to meet you at this tragic situation.”
Stating that he understood the miseries of the peopleof Kanyakumari district, he said that fishers and farmers of the district have been facing a very difficult time as many have lost their close relatives in the natural calamity that hit the west coast of Kanyakumari district.
Declaring that it was his bounden duty to help the people at thissituation, Rahul Gandhi stated that though not a ruling party at the centre, Congress is well aware of its powerful role as an opposition party and would raise the issue in the parliament.
Pointing at the long-pending demands of the fishermen community for the
establishment of a separate Fisheries Ministry at the centre, Rahul Gandhi
said had there been a separate ministry, the damages to fishermen's lives would have been mitigated. "We will put tremendous pressure on the Union government to create a separate ministry for Fisheries," assured the Congress leader.
Earlier, he apologised to the people for not visiting the affected people
immediately after the cyclone as he was engrossed in the election
campaign in Gujarat, scheduled much before Kanyakumari people met with the tragedy. As the NSG that oversees the security arrangements for Rahul's visit,
permitted only a restricted number of people inside the meeting venue,
where he interacted with the affected fishermen's families and farmers,
many fumed that they could not express their plight to the Congress
leader.
Due to time constraints, Rahul Gandhi could not spend more time with
the farmers as he did with the fisher-folks that irritated the farmers,
who complained that the Congress leader "did not even care to lend his ears" to their specific grievances.
