New Delhi: Lok Sabha MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and a delegation of parliamentarians from Kerala visited Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday, seeking the Centre's support for landslide-affected people in Wayanad. Priyanka who represents Wayanad in the Lok Sabha urged Shah to rise above politics and provide assistance to Wayanad from a humanitarian point of view.

If the Centre cannot step up in such circumstances, it sends a very bad message to the entire country and especially to the victims, she said.

"We apprised him of the situation there and told him how people have been devastated because the river's entire course has changed and everything was washed away. There is a focus area of the natural disaster but its impact is huge and people do not have any support system left, the Congress leader told media after meeting the union home minister.

"Families, houses, businesses, schools, everything has been washed away. In such a situation, if the Central government does not do anything then what can we do? So we appealed to him that setting aside politics, people there should be helped from a humanitarian point of view," she said.

"I also told him that the PM had gone there and met victims and when she met the victims there was an expectation among them that the PM would do something but till now no help has been extended which is saddening," the Congress general secretary said.

"We have given representations to the prime minister and the home minister. The devastation that has happened in that area is complete. There are people who have lost everyone in their family. They have no support system. In such circumstances if the Centre cannot step up, it sends a very bad message to the entire country and especially to the victims," she said.

Priyanka Gandhi said she has told Shah that "we must rise above politics and truly recognise the pain and suffering these people have gone through because their suffering is immense".

She added that all MPs from Kerala appealed to the centre to consider this very seriously and be more forthcoming with relief so that these people can rebuild their lives.
The Congress MP informed reporters that the home minister has told them he will provide the details on what was promised and what has been given in relief by Thursday evening.

The disaster, which struck Kerala on July 30, devastated large parts of three villages -- Punchirimattam, Chooralmala, and Mundakkai -- along with sections of Attamala in Wayanad. According to the government, the disaster claimed 231 lives.