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Kerala CM defends Modi’s visit to Kerala Temple, praises him after DGP objects

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Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday attempted to downplay reports suggesting that the state’s Director General of Police (DGP) had objected to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Puttingal Devi Temple on the same day when the tragedy took place, saying the visit of national leaders provided relief to the people during the disaster.

PM Modi-AV

“The PM’s visit to the spot was a great relief for the people. National leaders visited and their presence and advice and help was a great thing for Kerala. All rescue operations were over in the morning. We all concentrated on treatment of the injured after 6 am,” he said.

The DGP had asserted that he was against the visits as they would have adversely affected the rescue and relief work. He also said that during the VVIP visits, the police needs to be diverted for security.

Hours after the massive firecracker explosion at the Puttingal Devi temple early Sunday, PM Modi flew in a special aircraft to Kollam, around 64 km from Thiruvananthapuram, with a team of 15 specialists from Delhi.

Kerala’s Director General of Police TP Senkumar had said: “I did object to the idea of the Prime Minister visiting the region within 12 hours of the accident. I told them it would be better for the PM to visit the spot a day after the disaster. But the PM wanted to visit that day itself. Our entire force had been working from early morning, engaged in rescue and relief work. So much work was still left and all of them were tired because there was no provision of even drinking water. We had to make arrangements for the safety and security of Prime Minister Modi and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi too.”

“This is a non issue. There is no harm in national leaders coming to the site. It helps the residents get maximum assistance. There was no delay in relief or rescue work due to the convoys of PM and Rahul Gandhi,” he added.

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