Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh's reported remarks on the Centre's flood rehabilitation package today came in for strong criticism from ruling coalition partner PDP and opposition parties, which accused the state government of rubbing salts into the wounds of flood victims.
Singh in his reported remarks to local media today said that Rs 3,600 crore provided by the Centre for rehabilitation of the flood victims in the Valley were sufficient.
"The remarks of deputy chief minister have shocked me not only as a minister but in capacity of a flood victim who has personally witnessed the scale of devastation during the floods in September last year.
"Even Rs 44,000 crore relief package as was proposed by the previous government is in no way sufficient to compensate losses suffered by people during the devastating deluge," Bukhari said in a statement here.
He said he was shocked by Singh's "superficial" figures and appealed to his cabinet colleagues from BJP to desist from making "irresponsible statements that create confusion among flood victims".
"Our Common Minimum Programme that aims at good governance and building bridges to narrow down the gaps should have been our guiding principle. I would humbly request my cabinet colleagues to refrain from creating a precarious situation that will lead us nowhere," the senior PDP leader said.
He said his party joined hands with BJP despite having huge ideological and political differences with it to give the state a new direction under the leadership of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
"But instead of adhering to Sayeed's vision of togetherness and equal opportunities, it seems our fellow colleagues are bogged down on issues of derived importance."
"Instead of propagating their divergent opinions to prop up chaos and confusion, they (BJP ministers) should contribute in implementation of Sayeed's inclusive agenda of growth and prosperity," Bukhari said.
"The government is playing a cruel joke with the flood- affected people," said state Congress committee chief Chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir in Kishtwar.
Accusing the PDP-BJP coalition of being insensitive, he said the state government was adding insult to the sufferings of flood victims.
He sensed a tactical understanding between the two ruling parties to hoodwink the people of both the regions.
