Defending Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement on the comparison of Kerala tribal communities to Somalia, BJP National President Amit Shah on Saturday sought an apology from Chief Minister Oommen Chandy by referring to the deaths of two tribal children in Wayanad on Friday.
“The death of two more infants has proved that the concerns raised by Prime Minister about the high infant mortality rate among scheduled tribes in Kerala are valid. The chief minister cannot evade his responsibility,'' Shah said, The Times of India reported.
Shah also held up an issue of Outlook magazine from 2013 the cover of which he said the magazine had reported on infant deaths in Attappady area of Palakkad district. Shah said that the deaths were due to absence of a healthy food. “I dare Chandy to repeat what he told a news magazine three years ago. The attempt here is to rake up controversies by misinterpreting the words of Prime Minister. I appeal media to go and see the ground realities in tribal colonies in this state," Shah said.
ToI further reports that the BJP Chief also said that it was not Modi who first compared Kerala and Somalia, that in the Outlook article, a minister in the Congress government KC Joseph said that it was rampant alcohol consumption among women that lead to high infant mortality rate among Scheduled Tribes in the state.
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