BJP sets up relief fund, DMK donates Rs 1 cr

The massive mobilisation of relief material by the government to mitigate the sufferings of people in the tsunami-hit areas on the country's south-east coast has galvanised the Opposition parties too.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) both today set up separate disaster relief fund to provide assistance to the tsunami-affected people in several parts of the country.

DMK chief M Karunanidhi handed over a cheque for Rs 1 crore for the Prime Minister's Relief Fund, to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, when she called on him at a corporate hospital in Chennai, where he is undergoing treatment for back pain.

The cheque was given on behalf of the DMK Trust.

While the BJP displayed circumspection in not commenting on the government's relief efforts, and in fact said their efforts would supplement the government's relief work, such forbearance was not seen in the case of the VHP.

Senior VHP leader Praveen Togadia said since Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had awarded an unprecedented Rs 5 lakh cheque to murder victim Sankaraman's family, she could very well shower such largesse on the tsunami victims.

Togadia also took on the government saying while sending shiploads of relief to The Maldives was understandable, the government "could have done more to rescue those stranded on the Vivekananda Rock in Kanyakumari much closer home."

"We have suspended our agitation for the release of the Kanchi Shankaracharya till such time as we are carrying out relief work," he said.

The BJP's fund is to be chaired by Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh. The BJP's Aapda Rahat Kosh committee would have six members including party treasurer Ved Prakash Goel besides senior leaders Sushma Swaraj, Sanjay Joshi, VK Malhotra, Shivraj Singh Chauhan and S Thirunavukkarasar, party sources said.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has appealed for all to donate "with an open mind" to the fund.

Party president LK Advani and his predecessor M Venkaiah Naidu are currently touring the tsunami-affected areas. Advani yesterday directed party MPs and MLAs to contribute one month's salary towards relief.

The BJP has 200 MPs in both Houses of Parliament and about 1,000 MLAs. Advani also asked the central government to declare the tsunami disaster a national calamity.

Swaraj said the BJP-ruled states would be adopting villages in the affected areas and would be pitching in for the "long road to rehabilitation".

The BJP's other sister organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) has also despatched its team to start off relief work.

During the earthquake that hit Gujarat on January 26, 2001 in fact, RSS volunteers were the first on the scene and ran community kitchens for a long time after the quake. The popularity of the organisation in the state is in fact attributed to this work.

Meanwhile, the Chhattisgarh government on Tuesday announced a Rs 7 crore relief package for the tsunami devastated people of the coastal areas.

The relief package included 40,000 quintal rice and bamboos and logs for the rehabilitation of the affected people, official sources said in Raipur. Chief Minister Raman Singh said the state government would transport 20,000 quintal rice worth Rs 2 crore to the devastated areas.

Over 75,000 police personnel in Madhya Pradesh will contribute a day's salary for the people affected by tsunami in the coastal areas. The amount would be deposited to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund for the victims of tsunami, as per a decision taken at a meeting of senior police officials in Bhopal on Tuesday, police sources said.