Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Thursday, slammed PM Narendra Modi and urged him to correct his statement that the infant mortality rate among Scheduled Tribes in Kerala is worse than that of Somalia.

At a press conference held in Kochi, CM said that even after informing Modi via a letter about the inaccuracy of his statement on Sunday, the PM has maintained silence so far.

“Documents to show that Kerala is the highest in all indices were also attached with the letter. He could have corrected his statement when he addressed people at Tripunithura on Wednesday. However, his silence has shocked Kerala. When he compared Kerala to Somalia, he forgot that Kerala is also part of India,” Oommen Chandy said.

He pointed out that Kerala is above the national average for all indices and stands first in Human Development Index, while Gujarat is in the 11th position.

He further said that though, as the Prime Minister of the country, Modi has the right to criticize and make political statements, those should be based on official reports and not mere newspaper reports.

“PM based his statements on a photograph of kids eating from waste bin supposedly in Peravoor. However, enquiry carried out by the government has found it to be false. So, PM has, in effect, insulted Keralites purely based on a newspaper report.

He added that criticism coming from the opposition need not always be substantiated, but authenticity should not be compromised when such statements come from the Prime Minister himself.

Chandy also termed Modi’s statement as a form of political backlash aimed at the upcoming Assembly elections.

KPCC President VM Sudheeran had earlier blamed Modi for "having spoken without understanding of the ground reality".

Chandy further accused the central government of not intervening in bringing back Keralites stranded in Libya.

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