Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi visited city hospitals on Thursday to meet victims of Wednesday’s terror attacks. The two, who arrived in the city by a special plane from New Delhi, were also joined by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan in visiting Saifee and J.J. Hospitals. Showering lavish praise on the state administration, the Prime Minister said Maharashtra had risen remarkably well after the serial blasts.
Condemning the attacks, Dr Singh assured that the government will take all steps to ensure that such attacks aren’t repeated. “I share the anger and pain of the people of Mumbai after this attack. I appeal to Mumbaikars to remain calm and show a united face,” he said. “I cannot find words to describe this barbaric act, which has killed innocent people. Perpetrators of the attack must be brought to justice. Our government will do all to prevent repeat of this.”
The PM and Mrs Gandhi also reviewed security in the metropolis at a meeting convened at the city airport soon after their arrival. Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan, Mr Chavan, his deputy Ajit Pawar and home minister R.R. Patil were among those present in the meeting.
The PM also announced an ex-gratia assistance of `2 lakh each for the kin of the deceased and `1 lakh each for the seriously injured. Sources said that the PM’s two scheduled meetings for Thursday evening were cancelled as Dr Singh decided to travel to Mumbai instead.
Apart from Mr Singh and Mrs Gandhi, several other politicians — including BJP leader L.K. Advani, Union home minister P. Chidambaram, state home minister R.R. Patil, Shiv Sena leaders Uddhav Thackeray and Manoher Joshi, BJP MLC Vinod Tavde and opposition leader in state assembly Eknath Khadse — also visited several city hospitals.
And as these politicians made a beeline to visit the victims, anguished relatives and other patients at the hospitals had to endure a miserable time. If coming to terms with the blast and its after-effects wasn’t enough, they had to suffer a lot because of the visits by these VVIPs.
“We have been asked to vacate the area near the ward to make way for the politicians,” said a woman whose mother has been admitted in J.J. Hospital. “This is happening since 9.30 am and all relatives of other patients as well are similarly helpless. Does the visit of these politicians help the patients’ recovery in any way?”