Maharashtra Floods: State water minister's insensitive selfie video during survey triggers furore

Maharashtra Water Minister Girish Mahajan on Friday stoked a controversy after two video clips surfaced purportedly showing him smiling and waving hands cheerfully as he surveyed parts of the flood-hit district. 

This prompted the opposition NCP to rebuke Girish Mahajan. Questioning if the minister was on "tourism", the NCP asked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to seek resignation of the "insensitive" water resources minister.

In one of the clips, an unknown person accompanying Girish Mahajan is seen taking selfie video as they ride through the flood induced areas in parts of Kolhapur in western Maharashtra. The photo-op was witnessed even as lakhs of residents were being evacuated to safe locations and 55 NDRF teams were being deployed to rescue those stuck in the midst of floods.

The BJP minister can be seen smiling and waving hands in the clip. In another clip, Mahajan is seen inspecting the flood situation standing on a road as the person filmed the selfie video.

READ: Maharashtra Floods: Sangli Faces Massive Deluge, Residents Forced Into Makeshift Measures

Outraged at the insensitivity displayed by the Ministers while 7 states in India were being ravaged by the floods, NCP leader Dhananjay Munde took to Twitter to appeal to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra to take strict action against the officials concerned and suspend them.

महापूर पाहणीवेळी मंत्री @girishdmahajan आणि अधिकाऱ्यांच्या चेहऱ्यावर हसू, सेल्फीसाठी पोझ. पुराची पाहणी करण्यासाठी गेले आहेत की पर्यटनासाठी? सत्ताधाऱ्यांना काही संवेदना उरल्या आहेत की नाही? @Dev_Fadnavis जी, या असंवेदनशील मंत्र्यांचा तात्काळ राजीनामा घ्या,अधिकाऱ्यांचे निलंबन करा. pic.twitter.com/7wM0a2bE5m

— Dhananjay Munde (@dhananjay_munde) August 9, 2019

Parts of Maharashtra, particularly the Sangli and Kolhapur districts, are in the grip of devastating floods over the last one week following heavy rainfall in the region. As of Thursday, over two lakh people have been evacuated to safer places in the flood-ravaged districts.

READ: Maharashtra Floods LIVE: Rescue Operations On In Multiple Districts; Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Pune Face Inundation