'Afraid of Solar Dhamaka': PM Modi's Dig At Congress In Kerala Rally

Palakkad: Campaigning in Kerala today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the Congress-led UDF government over the solar scam and the brutal rape and murder of a woman last week, saying that there seemed to be "no government" in the state.

"I am afraid to use the word solar in Kerala as it would create a big 'dhamaka' (explosion)," PM Modi remarked at a rally in Palakkad, referring to the solar scam which has engulfed the state government and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

In the first of a series of rallies in the state ahead of polls on May 16, PM Modi also criticised what he called the state government's failure to handle the rape case. "A Dalit sister was raped and killed. We don't see a government anywhere," PM Modi said.

No arrests have been made nine days after the woman, a 30-year-old law student, was found dead inside her home with multiple wounds and bite marks on her body, her intestines hanging out and her genitals smashed.

The prime minister spoke on the solar scam as he referred to the initiative he had launched in his constituency Varanasi for converting diesel-powered engines to solar-powered battery engines in fishing boats.

"I thought, why can't this be replicated in Kerala took? But I was scared. I felt if I go to Kerala and talk of solar, there will be big 'dhamaka'," PM Modi said to applause from the crowd.

"See the change from government to government. In Varanasi, the solar-powered boats are powering the lives of fishermen, but in Kerala the government is run by solar," he commented, taking a dig at the chief minister, who has been accused of links with a woman, Saritha S Nair, arrested for conning industrialists who were promised solar panels.

The prime minister also targeted the opposition CPI-M in the state, saying it was following the "politics of violence". Several innocent BJP workers have been killed in attacks over the years by CPI-M, he alleged.