Union Minister of State for Road Transport Pon Radhakrishnan has said that he didn’t meet protesters at Kanyakumari as he felt that the protest was politically motivated.

Refrred to as ‘Ponnar’ by his partymen and others, Radhakrishnan is also representing Kanyakumari in Parliament as he was the lone winner besides Anbumani of the PMK during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls which was swept in the State by the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK. ‘Modi wave’, which worked for the BJP in almost all States, had almost no effect in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Speaking to newsmen at Nagercoil yesterday, Ponnar said that the Indian Navy has already started its rescue operations to look for any survivors among missing fishermen in the post-Cyclone Ockhi phase. “District Administration should set up separate teams to conduct survey on affected houses and trees in the District. If the State recommends the proposal of providing fishermen with GPRS-fitted equipment to trace their locations, the Centre would take a positive decision on the issue,” he said.

“Adequate compensation should be given to those whose farming lands were totally affected by the cyclone. Masons who lost their infrastructures should also be appropriately compensated,” he said and condemned those who were criticizing the Navy of not taking rescue efforts. “27 ships of the Indian Navy and Coast Guard are involved in rescue efforts and have rescued more than 600 fishermen,” he noted.

The Minister also appealed to the Govt. of Tamil Nadu to follow the ‘Kerala model’ of providing a lump-sum ex-gratia of Rs.20 lakhs to the families of the dead fishermen.