I have no funds, no cabinet: Kangana Ranaut's bizarre recipe for disaster relief

BJP MP and actor Kangana Ranaut, who inspected flood-affected areas in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi on Sunday, made bizarre remarks when she said she neither had a Cabinet post nor had funds for disaster relief. However, she stressed that she was making efforts to get financial assistance from the Centre.

"I do not have any funds for disaster relief or hold any Cabinet post. MPs have work that was limited to Parliament. We are very small in the scheme of things. But, I can help to get disaster funds from the Centre," Ranaut, the MP from Mandi, told news agency ANI.

While Ranaut asserted that she was accessible, she accused the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh of not providing relief to those who perished or were injured or lost their belongings due to floods.

"People who are responsible are hiding their faces. They are doing corruption. Central funds will come to them and not me or Jairam Thakur. I do have some capacity in policymaking, but is very less on the state level or even panchayat level," the BJP MP said.

The actor-politician said the Centre provided immediate relief operations by sending in forces to Himachal Pradesh. She also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a five-nation tour, was aware of the situation.

"At the local level, we provided relief material to the affected families. Even though the Prime Minister is on a foreign visit, he is informed of what is happening here. As an MP, it is my job to bring in funds and convey the ground reality to the government," she said.

Ranaut asserted that the Congress won't come to power in Himachal Pradesh "for the next 20 years" due to the recurring floods in the state every monsoon. "How the state government is functioning. I can say that Congress will not come to power in the state for the next 20 years," she claimed.

Her visit came in the wake of jibes from the Congress over her absence from her Lok Sabha constituency, Mandi.

Earlier, when he was asked about her absence, her party colleague and Leader of the Opposition Jairam Thakur said, "We are concerned about the locals, we live and die for them. Cannot comment on those who are not."

Fourteen people have died in Mandi district and a search is on for 31 missing, as cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides caused massive destruction. More than 150 houses, 106 cattle sheds, 31 vehicles, 14 bridges and several roads have suffered damage in the disaster.

A total of 164 cattle have perished. About 200 roads have been rendered out of bounds for traffic, while 236 transformers and 278 supply schemes have been disrupted in Mandi district as of Sunday morning, according to the state emergency operation centre.

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(with inputs from PTI)