Politicians shying away from relief works in Visakhapatnam?

VISAKHAPATNAM: Citizens languishing in the aftermath of the Cyclone Hudhud point out that they have not come across political leaders actively participating in the ongoing relief work in the city. The common refrain is: "Only a couple of months ago these politicians actively participated in electioneering seeking votes. But they now fail to show the same enthusiasm when it comes to providing relief and succor to the affected people".
Many politicians reportedly offered money to voters in exchange of their votes and did everything possible to win their hearts during the election campaigning in March-May this year. However, most of them are now conspicuous by their absence at the relief camps.
Pragada Srinivasu, secretary for Association for Regional Tribal Development (urban), said most of the slum dwellers at Gandhinagar expressed anger when the personal assistants of three MLAs, instead of the MLAs themselves, visited their areas for the relief work. "Yes, many politicians offered bribes to voters in slum during elections, which is illegal. But the same politicians have not come forward to offer help to the cyclone victims," Srinivasu said.
Agreeing with Srinivasu, Botsa Prasanth Kumar, vice president of Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour Workers Union, said politicians from almost all parties contesting the general elections visited their areas everyday till the polling was completed. But more than 70 per cent of them have not shown their faces to the cyclone victims after the calamity passed. "Surprisingly, former mayor of the city, Pulusu Janardhana Rao from Congress, also did not visit the fishing harbor till Sunday," Prasanth Kumar alleged.
Meanwhile, when contacted, Janardhan Rao said he visited his ward No 50 in Gajuwaka limits following the cyclone. He is now visiting all areas in the city.
A senior Congress leader said "Almost all politicians of the Congress made their visits to the cyclone hit areas in the city. However, as there are hardly a few members in the Congress now, people feel that no Congress leader has visited the cyclone hit areas," he said.
Congress leader B Bhaskara Rao said they would soon distribute sarees to women in cyclone hit areas in the city. They had already distributed some essential commodities to the victims.