Maharashtra's ruling party, the Shiv Sena, on March 7, said that the Indian government woke up to evacuate students from Ukraine only after angry reactions from those stranded in the war-hit country. An editorial in the Sena mouthpiece, Saamana, said when the US and European nations evacuated their students even before the war began, the Ministry of External Affairs was issuing an advisory to people to leave Ukraine.

"Where was the government's contribution there?" it asked. "When students were stuck in Ukraine, expressing their pain, our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) was beating the 'damru' (small drum). Stop the sham of Operation Ganga and rescue Indian students stranded in Sumy (Ukraine), this is what students returning from Ukraine are saying," it added.

The students got stuck in Ukraine because the Indian government was nonchalant, the Marathi daily said. After the war started, the students left Kyiv and Kharkiv (cities in Ukraine) with their luggage and it was hard for them to even get food and water. "Their miseries reached poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, after which Operation Ganga was announced," the Sena said. "It can be said that the students were evacuated because the government only woke up after angry reactions from them. Students narrated their horrifying experiences," the editorial said.

Shiv Sena MP and Saamana's executive editor Sanjay Raut had in the past said that Operation Ganga was named keeping in mind the ongoing Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.