Mumbai, Jun 25 (PTI): BJP ally Shiv Sena today slammed Narendra Modi over his rescue efforts for Gujaratis from flood-ravaged Uttarakhand, terming it as "parochial", and said Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan was "large- hearted" in this mammoth task.

Drawing fire for his "Rambo" act by claiming to have rescued 15,000 marooned Gujaratis on a single day, Modi received flak from Shiv Sena, BJP's oldest ally, which said he should have desisted from such action at a time when he is aspiring to become his party's prime ministerial candidate.

"When Modi is being cheered as the likely prime ministerial candidate, it is detrimental to take a stance that he only thinks for the people of Gujarat," Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said in an editorial in party mouthpiece "Saamana".

"The criticism was not against Modi but his propaganda folks. The opposition is not for Modi but the wrong way in which his work was publicised," he said, adding, "Modi has done good work. What wrong work has he done?"

"Modi is not our enemy. He is a national leader and we don't oppose him," Uddhav told reporters at a hurriedly called press conference in a damage control exercise.

Recalling how his father Bal Thackeray had stood behind the Gujarat Chief Minister when even allies were gunning for him, Uddhav said,"After the Gujarat riots, when other NDA constituents were clamouring for Modi's removal, it was only Balasaheb who supported him. So, saying that we are opposed to Modi is not true."

"Please don't try to read any political meaning in the editorial," he said. The Sena mouthpiece's editorial was all praise for Prithviraj Chavan for showing the "large-hearted and magnanimous" side of the state during the ongoing rescue operations.

"Chavan, who visited Uttarakhand, made it clear that though Maharashtra's relief machinery deputed there was for people of the state, others who were stranded there won't be left out," Uddhav said.

While dispatching relief material with a large team of officials, Chavan had said that though the aid was intended for people from the state stranded in Uttarakhand, other victims would not be ignored, the Sena chief said in the editorial.

Earlier report

Uddhav Thackeray lauds Chavan, lashes out at Modi

Mumbai, Jun 25 (IANS): Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray lauded Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and blasted Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for their respective roles in the ongoing rescue operations in disaster-hit Uttarakhand.

In an editorial in party mouthpiece "Saamana" Tuesday, Thackeray heaped praise on Chavan for adopting a broad-minded approach, and ridiculed Modi for his parochial attitude in dealing with the fallout of the disaster.

"Chavan has shown Maharashtra's large-heartedness and magnanimity in the face of such a massive disaster, not only for the people of this state stranded in Uttarakhand, but for victims from across the country," Thackeray said.

He pointed out how Chavan declared, while dispatching a planeload of relief material with a large team of officials, that though the aid was intended for people from the state stranded in Uttarakhand, other victims would not be ignored.

Maharashtra has placed two helicopters at the disposal of the Uttarakhand government and extended aid of Rs.10 crore, among the first states in the country to react quickly to the disaster.

"This is Maharashtrian generosity and the right approach. Though Shiv Sena has been accused of parochialism, even my party members have dedicated themselves to the rescue and relief works there. When we are faced with such a major national calamity, the political party, state or religion do not matter, we are all united," Thackeray said.

Targetting the Gujarat chief minister, the Shiv Sena president said that now Modi has been given a national role to play by the Bharatiya Janata Party and he should not speak in narrow terms for only Gujaratis.

"Most of the rescue works are being carried out by the Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. They don't discriminate on the basis of the victims' state of origin or religion, but rescue them as human beings," Thackeray pointed out.

Thackeray said that besides Chavan and Modi, even other state governments have contributed to helping the victims of the natural disaster. "Nobody is doing any favour, it's their duty in the face of calamity," he said.

Thackeray lashed out at the Gujarat chief minister's propaganda machinery for claiming that 15,000 people from Gujarat were rescued in a day, the day of Modi's visit.

"It would be better if Modi's propagandists exercise restraint in future," Thackeray said.