The evacuation of 15000 Gujaratis following the visit to Uttarakhand by Narendra Modi has become the talk of the town. While the BJP cannot stop singing praises of Modi for this operation, the Congress on the other hand has termed it as an act of opportunism and selfishness aimed at protecting on Gujaratis.

Be that as it may be, but the BJP unit in Uttarakhand has a different story to tell. The manner in which the entire operation was planned and executed should be applied as a role model for other states, the BJP points out.

Anil Baluni, the BJP state unit spokesperson and former vice- chairperson of the state forest and environment advisory committee speaks with rediff.com in detail about the operation carried out by Modi and his team. His presence for three days was enough to activate the entire BJP and work hard to carry out rescue operations, he also points out.

This is the season when Gujarati pilgrims are at the highest. Almost 25 per cent of the pilgrims are from Gujarat at this time. When the tragedy first struck, the Gujarat government sought to know the exact numbers. They geared themselves up since day one and did not waste time and proved that they are very good at disaster management. Their approach was systematic since day one.

The first thing that the Gujarat government did was appoint a relief commissioner, Poonam Singh Pandey. They then decided to use the BJP network in Uttarakhand and reached out to each unit seeking help. They sent in four officers in the ranks of IAS and IPS officers to oversee the work and assist the relief commissioner. Now one has to note that each of these officers who were sent in were originally locals of Uttarakhand but working in the Gujarat cadre. This was done to ensure that there was no problem where the locations or the language was concerned. They were able to converse and move around with ease since they were familiar with the place and this helped a lot in the rescue operation.

This entire team spread across the state. Each of their phone numbers were shared with the BJP workers in the state. The workers on the ground were told that these numbers should be shared with the pilgrims who could get in touch with the relief commissioner directly. Each pilgrim had the number of the relief commissioner and this made it very easy to communicate as a result of which the rescue operation was successful. Along with planes, the government of Gujarat also sent in 100 buses to rescue the pilgrims. All the workers were told that the pilgrims who were caught up should be provided with food and water until the rescue team reaches there.

Now what Modi did was stunning and he decided to station himself in the flood affected state for three days. This acted as a boon for all. The officers on the job were charged up and the fact that Modi was directly in contact with the workers only charged up the entire team. It is always an honour to have such a respectable leader speak with us and this automatically gave us a lot of enthusiasm. Modi not only inspected the areas personally but also spoke to each of the workers despite all the danger. Unlike some Congress leaders he did not sit in Delhi and tweet about the operation or mock the rest who were doing work.