The Congress party took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi concerning the ongoing rescue operations to extract 41 trapped laborers from the collapsed Silkyara-Barcot tunnel in Uttarkashi.
The official Twitter handle of the Congress posted a picture of PM Modi standing in front of the Silkyara tunnel with a green flag in hand. The caption read, "Kuch Camere wagairah lagwayein, toh saaheb ke darshan ho jaayein" (Put some cameras, Saheb will visit the tunnel then). The post suggested that the Prime Minister would only visit the tunnel if media coverage or cameras were present.
This social media post follows closely on the heels of Rahul Gandhi's recent comment during a political rally in Balotra, Rajasthan, where he referred to PM Modi as "Panauti Modi," implying that the Prime Minister brings bad luck. Gandhi insinuated that India lost a match in Ahmedabad because PM Modi was present. During the rally, a member of the crowd yelled "panauti," to which Gandhi responded, "Haan ... panauti, panauti ... acha bhala waha pe humare ladke World Cup jeet jaate, waha pe panauti harwa diya. TV wale ye nahi kahenge magar janta jaanti hai" (Our boys were easily going to win the World Cup but the 'bad omen' made us lose. The media won't point this out, but people know).
The Congress has previously criticized PM Modi, particularly over his sortie on a Tejas fighter aircraft, accusing him of ignoring the efforts of previous governments. BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia responded, stating that the Congress's animosity toward the Prime Minister demonstrated their disregard for the welfare of the country.
Amidst this political banter, the ongoing rescue mission in the Uttarkashi tunnel appears to be approaching its final stages, with rescue teams successfully covering a distance of 50 meters out of the required 58 meters. The objective is to insert a pipe to facilitate the extraction of workers who have been trapped in the collapsed tunnel for the past 17 days. The rescue efforts gained momentum as additional workers with expertise in rat-hole mining joined the operations. The workers have been stranded inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi since its partial collapse on November 12, and concerted efforts are being made to ensure their safe rescue.