In an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana,Shiv Sena has criticised Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi over his parochial and regional outlook in only trying to rescue Gujarati pilgrims from flood-ravaged Uttarakhand. However,Sena president Uddhav Thackeray played down the criticism,saying,It was not meant to attack Modi but against those handling his communication. Saying you are only concerned about problems faced by Gujaratis is detrimental. It is imperative that in a crisis,people should rise above parochialism and regionalism and think about the nation, reads the edit. Interestingly,the edit praised Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan for contributing to relief work. Chavan has shown Maharashtras magnanimity in the wake of such a massive disaster,not only towards people from the state stranded in Uttarakhand but towards victims from across the country, it said. After Modis visit to Uttarakhand,the Gujarat CMs camp had claimed that nearly 15,000 Gujaratis were evacuated. Most of the rescue work is being done by Indian Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police. They dont discriminate on the basis of the victims state of origin or religion, the edit said. Dont try to read any political meaning into the editorial. It only opposed the wrong way in which Modis efforts were publicised, Thackeray told a news conference at the party headquarters.
