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‘I provided them shelter and food, not you’: Jyotiraditya Scindia’s spat with Romanian mayor goes viral

A total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under Operation Ganga have been increased to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine. For the past few days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been chairing crucial meetings on the issue. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said nine flights took off on Thursday from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland.

New Delhi: Congress party leaders and netizens have shared a video of Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia’s spat with the Romanian Mayor at a relief camp.

Scindia, one of the four ministers who reached Bucharest is one of the special envoys of the government to oversee evacuation efforts of Indian students.

In the video, the Union Minister can be seen addressing the Indian students when he is stopped by the Mayor who is heard saying “explain to them (the students) when they will leave home. I provide the shelter, I provide the food and I helped them, not you”.

Evacuation is a duty, not a favour: Rahul Gandhi

Responding to this, Scindia told the Mayor that he will decide what he needs to speak and urged him to stand back.

Later, Scindia acknowledged that support of the Romanian government.

Meanwhile, Congress has targeted the Union government for politicising ‘Operation Ganga’ with Rahul Gandhi saying “evacuation is a duty, not a favour”.

Srinivas BV, the national president of the Indian Youth Congress, shared a video and took a swipe at Scindia.

“When the Mayor of Romania had to remind Scindia ji that we have made arrangements for the food and living of the children, not you,” said Srinivas BV in his tweet.

‘Govt working round the clock to ensure that all Indian nationals are safe and secure’

On Wednesday, the Union Minister for Civil Aviation had met Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca in Romania and thanked the latter for facilitating the safe evacuation of Indian citizens amid heightened tensions in Ukraine.

Taking to Twitter, Scindia said that the Romanian PM assured his continued support in the evacuation process.

On February 28, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting to review the ongoing efforts under Operation Ganga to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine.

The Prime Minister said that the entire government machinery is working round the clock to ensure that all Indian nationals there are safe and secure.