New Delhi: The ruling Congress party vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took an aerial view of flood-ravaged Uttarakhand.

Rahul took an aerial survey of Guptkashi and Kedarnath after spending the night at a base camp set up at Gauchar.

His belated visit to the hilly state, however, has created a political row in view of the federal home ministry’s instructions to VIPs to refrain from visiting the state as it hampers the rescue and relief works currently on.

“We have requested the VIPs to not go (to Uttarakhand) as it hampers the rescue work. Even I did not visit Uttarakhand,” federal home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had requested earlier this week.

“Rahul Gandhi is not going there as a VIP. He is going there as a citizen, as the vice-president of Congress (party) to oversee the relief materials reach in place,” Congress party spokesperson Renuka Chowdhary said.

The party had been facing uncomfortable questions about Gandhi’s commitment as he continued to be away on a private tour of a western country and returned to India earlier this week, almost a week after the flash floods created havoc in the Himalayan state.

The party had also been smarting since the weekend as media reports suggested the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi managed to rescue nearly 15,000 trapped Gujaratis from Uttarakhand after his visit to the state.

While the figures of those rescued by Modi is disputed, the fact that absence of Rahul Gandhi who could lock horns during next year’s general elections with Modi to become the next Indian prime minister had caused enough damage to the party and sent wrong signals about his commitment to the people.

The Congress party has started the damage control exercise with party general secretary Digvijay Singh saying Rahul Gandhi has not gone there for a photo op, unlike Modi.

“It’s a question of timing. Modi went there and boasted. Rahul hasn’t done that. Rahul has travelled by road and he is staying there,” Singh said, accusing Modi of lying on claims of those rescued by his government.

Incidentally, Singh himself faces the danger of being accused of lying as the Congress party vice-president travelled to Uttarakhand by helicopter after flagging off the convoy of trucks carrying relief material along with his mother, Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, from the party headquarters in New Delhi on Monday.

The Congress party termed Modi as “feku” a Hindi slang for one who makes tall claims. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson also used the workd feku, which originates from word fekna (throw), to attack the Congress party.

“As far as ‘feku’ goes, it’s high time for the people of this country to throw out the Congress government,” Lekhi said.