Kerala Not Somalia, Show Some Political Decency: Oommen Chandy To PM Modi

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has written a strongly worded letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that he had insulted the poll-bound state and demanding that he show some "political decency" by withdrawing his remarks.

On Sunday, PM Modi had addressed a rally in Thiruvananthapuram, where his comparison of Kerala to Somalia, one of the least developed nations in Africa, had hurt the people of the state, Mr Chandy said.

"I request you to show some political decency by withdrawing your baseless statements against Kerala," Mr Chandy wrote in the five-page letter. "You likened Kerala to Somalia without checking the veracity of the reports, without using the machinery under you."

It is baseless to say that successive Kerala governments have "sidelined" the issues of political violence and murders, he further added. "This is unbecoming of a prime minister and has created a great deal of agony and protest."

"With great deal of regret, let me point out that they (previous Prime Ministers) never attempted anything that brought disrepute to the office of the Prime Minister like you have done," he further said in the letter, a copy of which was released to the media.

Over the weekend, the Prime Minister had been campaigning in Kerala - where the BJP is heading a Third Front and hooping to expand its presence. Power in the state keeps swinging between the Congress-led UDF and the Left-led LDF.

Mr Chandy, whose UDF government has been battling charges of corruption and allegations of slack law and order following some horrific cases of violence against women, is hoping for a second term.  But going by voting pattern in Kerala, where people have not given two successive terms to any government, the Left is hoping for a comeback.