Thiruvananthapuram: Congress leader AK Antony on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's controversial Kerala-Somalia comparison will impact the prospects of BJP, which has been pulling out all the stops in its bid to open its account in Kerala Assembly.
"Modi had compared Kerala to Somalia, which is infamous for starvation deaths and sea pirates. The pride of Keralites has been hurt," Antony told reporters after exercising his franchise at a booth here.
Read: PM insulted Kerala by likening it to Somalia: Chandy
"The Prime minister had an opportunity to apologise for the remark, but he did not do that," the former Defence Minister said, adding the remark would affect the BJP's prospects.
Modi, while addressing an election rally in Kerala, had compared the infant deaths in some tribal areas in the state with that to Somalia.
Read: Modi in Kerala: PM gets trolled for his Somalia simile
However, BJP defended the Prime Minister, saying people were "twisting facts" and he had only highlighted the plight of the tribal community in the state and his desire was to improve their living conditions.
Expressing confidence that Kerala will create history by voting to power the UDF government again, Antony said the Marxist-led LDF will have to sit in the opposition for the next five years and BJP will not open its account.
Read: BJP backs Modi’s Somalia remarks, hits out at Oommen Chandy
This will be a vote against the politics of violence and communalism and it will be a vote for peace, he said. The attack on RMP candidate K K Rema at Vatakara will prove dangerous for the LDF, he added.
Kerala would see polling for its 140 seats assembly. The polling started at 7 am and would end at 6 pm.
All non-sensitive booths would have a policeman each for providing security and central paramilitary force personnel would give security cover for the sensitive and hypersensitive booths.
Meanwhile, the election authorities are bracing for the possibility of unusual rains today. The Election Commission has made additional efforts in the polling booths to provide cover for the voters to come and exercise their franchise without getting drenched in the possible rain.
The Kerala Government has made elaborate arrangements for smooth and peaceful conduct of polls.
