Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to have bitten off a little more than he can chew this time, when he seemed to anger an entire state with one comment. At an election rally in Kerala, Modi drew attention to a photograph that appeared in a local paper in November 2015, that showed a few children foraging for food in a garbage dump. He then proceeded to point fingers at the Communist Party, in whose backyard this picture was taken, while also mentioning the high infant mortality rate among Scheduled Tribes in Kerala. He then compared Kerala to Somalia in this regard.
This statement has angered the citizens of Kerala, who took to social media to lambast the Prime Minister. The Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy was incensed and dashed a letter off to the PM, asking for an apology. Chandy alleges that Narendra Modi has brought shame to the office of the Prime Minister by comparing an Indian state to a troubled African country. The rate of infant mortality in Kerala among the Scheduled Tribes, 12 deaths per 1000 population, it is still far lower than the national average of 40.
But these statistics are relatively inconsequential. PM Modi was trying to put down the current ruling party and prove that governance in the state is not up to the mark. The fact remains that the BJP have never won an assembly seat in Kerala. But stirring up unnecessary controversy isn’t helping the BJP at all.
