Mumbai: With tourists from Maharashtra left stranded in Jammu and Kashmir following Tuesday’s Pahalgam attack, all three leaders of the Mahayuti government in the state have been trying to demonstrate how they are proactively leading rescue and relief efforts.
As Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced a relief amount of Rs 5 lakh for the families of the six deceased from Maharashtra, a mechanism was also set up in Mantralaya for stranded tourists to reach out for assistance. Fadnavis deputed ministers—all from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—to oversee the relief operations.
Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, at his end, appointed his own team to coordinate with stranded tourists and deployed a group under the leadership of his Member of Parliament son Shrikant Shinde to spearhead the efforts.
Shinde also attempted to project himself as the face of the state’s relief operations by travelling to Srinagar Wednesday night and personally interacting with tourists from Maharashtra keen to return home. Speaking to the media, he said, “I am a karyakarta. I cannot sit in one place.”
Meanwhile, the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) shared videos of party members holding a telephone conversation with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, in which he is seen issuing specific instructions to assist stranded tourists. Like the Shinde-led Shiv Sena, the NCP also released videos of tourists thanking Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
The Mahayuti alliance comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party.
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Competing efforts
Officially, the state government has arranged two special flights to bring back tourists from Jammu and Kashmir to Maharashtra. Both flights—one operated by IndiGo carrying 83 tourists, and the other by Air India carrying 100 tourists—are scheduled to arrive in Maharashtra Thursday. The state government is bearing the cost of these flights.
Disaster management helplines have also been established in Mantralaya.
The three Mahayuti parties are simultaneously promoting their individual leaders’ contributions.
CM Fadnavis appointed a number of BJP leaders as point persons for managing rescue efforts. He directed Girish Mahajan, the minister handling disaster management, to reach Srinagar. Simultaneously, he instructed BJP ministers Mangal Prabhat Lodha and Ashish Shelar to manage arrangements at Mumbai airport, where the bodies of four victims were brought.
The bodies of two more victims were scheduled to arrive at Pune airport. For this, Fadnavis assigned Union Minister of State Murlidhar Mohol and junior state minister Madhuri Misal to oversee arrangements.
“Whatever is possible, we are doing. I am myself looking into it. Shinde saheb and Ajit dada are also doing whatever they can at their end,” Fadnavis told reporters Wednesday.
The Shinde-led Sena widely shared photos and videos of the Deputy CM engaging with tourists, shaking hands, exchanging smiles with their children, and offering reassurance.
Speaking to reporters from Srinagar Wednesday night, Shinde said, “I met a lot of tourists waiting here (at the airport). I am now also going to meet the tourists who have stayed put in their hotels.”
“People felt really satisfied after meeting me. They felt like someone who is their own has come to meet them. I was speaking to the tourists since morning but you know I am a karyakarta (worker). I am not one to sit at one place so I came here. We are making all the arrangements, the state government is monitoring the situation and the CM himself is looking at it,” he added.
Shinde said he had sent a team led by his son Shrikant Shinde to monitor relief efforts.
Not to be left behind, Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar Thursday shared a video on X of her husband Ajit Pawar speaking with Dheeraj Sharma, national president of the NCP Youth Congress. In the video, the deputy chief minister says he is trying to get tourists from Marathwada rerouted to Hyderabad to shorten their journey home, and that he has spoken with Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol regarding the matter.
जम्मू-काश्मीरमधील पहलगाम येथे झालेल्या दुर्दैवी घटनेनंतर महाराष्ट्रातून गेलेले पर्यटक धास्तावले होते. त्यांना महाराष्ट्रात परत सुखरूप आणण्यासाठी दादांनी पुढाकार घेतला आहे. यासंदर्भात मा. दादांनी फोनद्वारे राष्ट्रवादी युवक काँग्रेस अध्यक्ष धीरज शर्मा यांच्याशी बातचीत करून… pic.twitter.com/a0ZNWDZGlg
— Sunetra Ajit Pawar (@SunetraA_Pawar) April 24, 2025
Sharma is heard telling Pawar that a team from the Nationalist Congress Party’s youth wing is currently with the stranded tourists in Jammu and Kashmir, assisting them with accommodation and food. He adds that the tourists are grateful to Pawar and the party.
The video also shows Ajit Pawar at work inside Mantralaya, engaged in meetings and reviewing documents.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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