Union minister for tourism K Chiranjeevi facing problems in own state

Union minister for tourism K Chiranjeevi, who had hitherto been getting only bouquets for his pro-active role in promoting Indian tourism, is now facing brickbats, too, for the first time after assuming charge as the union minister.  While hundreds of Telugu tourist got stranded in Uttarakhand forests on account of heavy floods to Ganga river and landslides on their way to Gangotri and Yamonotri, there was no major initiative taken by Chiranjeevi so far to rescue them.  Chiru made a few calls to the officials and the Uttarakhand government in the beginning, but later, there was no follow-up action from his ministry.  On the other hand, the Kiran Kumar Reddy government has been making every effort to reach the stranded Telugu tourists and provide them food and water.  It is now making arrangements for airlifting the passengers through army helicopters. Still, there is no word from Chiranjeevi.  "He should have at least made an official statement appealing to the Uttarakhand government to rescue the tourists and console the families in the home state. His silence has only brought him a lot of criticism," a political analyst commented. ...(More..)