PM Modi mocked after floods – State leader heckled for going missing in action

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A residential area is seen surrounded by floodwaters in Chennai, India on Dec 5. Although floodwaters have begun to recede, vast swaths of Chennai and neighboring districts were still under 2-1/2 to 3 meters (8 to 10 feet) of water, with tens of thousands of people in state-run relief camps. (AP)
A residential area is seen surrounded by floodwaters in Chennai, India on Dec 5. Although floodwaters have begun to recede, vast swaths of Chennai and neighboring districts were still under 2-1/2 to 3 meters (8 to 10 feet) of water, with tens of thousands of people in state-run relief camps. (AP)

CHENNAI, India, Dec 6, (Agencies): One of India’s most powerful politicians, a former movie star called “Amma” or “Mother” by her followers, is being heckled and abused for going missing in action after floods swept the capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, which she rules. It’s a salutary lesson for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who at first drew nods of approval when he rushed to Chennai last week, promising to stand by its people in their hour of need.

Yet, within hours, Modi became the object of mockery on social media after his press office released a doctored photo of him inspecting flood damage. For both him and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram, the image of strong leadership created by their publicity machines was undermined. Until the floods that ravaged the city of 6 million, the lofty remoteness of Jayalalithaa added to the aura around a leader with an almost hysterical following. Devotees of the 1960s screen idol have immolated themselves in her defence in the past.

Now, she faces a backlash from residents fed up with the sight of her image on billboards, aid packets and her own Jaya Plus TV channel. She has been since in public only twice during the crisis — once with Modi. Angry youths heckled a state minister and officials in Jayalalithaa’s north Chennai constituency, where people were sitting on the roadside amid sludge and mountains of garbage, their shanties swept away by the worst rains in a century. “Forget about Amma coming here, there was no sign of the party cadres,” said one of them, called Dorairaj.

About 280 people have died across Tamil Nadu since torrential rains on Dec 1 submerged tracts of Chennai under up to eight feet (2.5 metres) of water, trapping people on rooftops with no communication. There was further revulsion after a party legislator put up a poster of Jayalalithaa lifting a baby above the floodwaters, in a scene from a blockbuster movie. “Adding salt to the wounds,” said one Twitter post.

Avadi Kumar, a spokesman of her ruling AIADMK party, said there was anger among the people but the administration was doing all it could to bring relief: “It is impossible to reach all areas immediately or be present everywhere at all times.” Modi’s own promise to voters of good days to come for India is also starting to face disenchantment, 18 months into his five-year term, with key reforms stalled by bureaucratic inertia and political gridlock.

Campaign
Ambitious initiatives, such as a “Clean India” campaign, have made little headway — even as Modi has built up huge followings on social media and addressed enthusiastic diaspora Indians at packed stadiums on his many trips overseas. “If today he appears to have lost control over his own narrative, it is his own fault,” commentator Tavleen Singh wrote in Sunday’s Indian Express, urging Modi to hire a professional media team. Modi does not have an official spokesperson. Jayalalithaa, 67, in the past considered as a possible prime ministerial candidate backed by regional groups, faces an election in Tamil Nadu next year. Modi’s nationalist party has little presence in Tamil Nadu, a state of 70 million. It would rather the iron-fisted Jayalalithaa stays in power, believing she is more inclined to back his reform agenda in parliament than her rivals. But there are concerns around her health and that she may have to curtail her campaign.

Meanwhile, India’s main airport in flood-devastated Tamil Nadu state reopened on Sunday as emergency workers strove to help thousands of residents forced to flee their inundated homes. The international airport in the state capital Chennai had closed on Wednesday leaving thousands of passengers stranded, after record rains worsened flooding that has claimed nearly 300 lives since Nov 9.

“There was no damage to the runway. It remained under water for a few days but has been cleared now,” national Aviation Minister Mahesh Sharma said as passengers started to gather at the terminal. “We had a few relief flights yesterday from the airport and today commercial flights have resumed their services.”

Thousands of residents have been rescued by boat or plucked from rooftops after the floods left much of Chennai, a city of more than sex million, underwater. Power supplies and phone networks were also hit. Soldiers and other emergency workers who poured into the southeastern state have now switched to rushing food, clean drinking water and medical supplies to hard-hit residents. “The army has … distributed relief materials including water and food to over 20,000 people,” said Colonel Rohan Anand.

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