A number of angry tweeters from Kerala took offence to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi comments, when he compared infant mortality rates among scheduled tribes in Kerala with that of Somalia. He was addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) election rally in the state this week.
Malayalees responded on Twitter, with the hashtag #PoMoneModi, which translates to “get lost Modi”. The phrase is derived from “Po Mone Dinesha”, a dialogue in the popular Malayalam movie ‘Narasimham’, which stars Mohanlal, one of the leading actors of the state.
The hashtag was among the top trends in India and UAE on Wednesday morning.
Many tweeps said Modi’s recent blunder would ensure his party’s defeat in the upcoming Kerala elections.
Twitter user @threeinchfool wrote: “What Modi has done in his Kerala speeches will not merely ensure defeat for BJP in 2016, but also for the next twenty years.”
Another user, @msgpahujaa tweeted: “PM sir, you questioned the DNA of Biharis and you got a resounding answer. Now you compare Kerala to Somalia... awaiting 19th May!”
They also used statistics and facts about Kerala to prove Modi wrong.
@msgpahujaa went on to write: “India’s literacy rate is at 74.04 per cent. Kerala is the most literate state in India, with 93.91 per cent literacy...”
@goonerblues commented: “United Nations [UN] declared Kerala as the first baby-friendly state in the world, but Modi thinks Kerala is worse than Somalia.”
According to a Gulf News report in 2014, around 90 per cent of Kerala’s 2.36 million expatriate population was settled in the Middle East.
UAE-based tweep @ThanzeemKR tweeted: “We ‘Somalians’ are the largest Indian population in Dubai. So proud! #PoMoneModi, you should see how much money we pump from here to ‘SomaKerala’.”
