Who paid for evacuation of Keralites from Libya & Yemen? Sushma asks Oommen Chandy

A day after the #PoMoneModi debacle in Kerala, the BJP and Congress engaged in yet another bout of confrontation. This time, over the question of who funded the evacuation of Keralaites from Yemen, Libya and Iraq.

In a direct attack on Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy, Ministry of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, "We evacuated thousands of Indians from Kerala from Iraq, Libya and Yemen. Who paid for them?"

She made the remark in response to Chandy's claim that "Kerala paid for 29 Indians evacuated from Libya."

The verbal duel broke out after 29 people hailing from Kerala and Tamil Nadu reached Kochi Airport on 12 May after being rescued from conflict-torn Libya.

"You started this debate - as to who paid? Not me. We always did this because this is our pious duty towards our citizens," Swaraj said.

On 9 May, the Prime Minister had antagonised the people of Kerala by comparing the state - which has traditionally been progressive on several developmental parameters like health and education - with Somalia.

The BJP has remained silent on the Somalia analogy fallout, while Chandy upped the ante by capitalising on Modi's blunder. Chandy has demanded that PM Modi should apologise for his comments. "Modi left Kochi last night without withdrawing his remarks. Malayalees all over the world are upset over the remarks of the PM," Chandy said in a Facebook post.

The Chief Minister said that PM Modi's speech was not backed by facts. He has also threatened to write to the Election Commission.

During an election rally in Kerala, ahead of the 16 May assembly polls in the state, Modi had said: "The situation with the child death ratio among Scheduled Tribes in Kerala is scarier than even Somalia. Recently, one came across a tragic picture in the media. In Peravoor, Scheduled Tribe children were seen foraging for food in a garbage dump".

Following this, Chandy had written to PM Modi expressing hurt over the remark.