Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee on Tuesday sought an explanation from former MP AP Abdullhakutty for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a Facebook post. The former MP linked Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha win to the Prime Minister inculcating “Gandhian values” in governance.

In his post, he also said leaders and commentators should set aside their bias and assess the landmark victory of Modi independently.

“This victory is a reward for governance strategies and development agenda of the Modi government. What made him so popular was that he inculcated enough Gandhian values in governance,” he said citing ‘Swacch Bharat’ and Ujjwala scheme.

“Gandhi once told his followers when you create a policy think of the face of the poorest person you may have met in your life. Modi has done exactly that. Through ‘Swacch Bharat’ he gave toilets to 9.26 crore families and gave free LPG connections to six core families,” he said in the post.

Soon after his post surfaced many Congress leaders sought action against him. A former CPI(M) MP from Kannur, Abdullhakutty was expelled from the party after he praised Modi’s governance in Gujarat. He then joined the Congress and the party made him a legislator.

PCC president Mullapally Ramachandran said the party will seek an explanation from him. But Abdullhakutty said it was an independent observation and denied rumours of him planning to join the saffron camp.

He represented Kannur Lok Sabha seat from 1999 to 2009. It was known that he was disappointed after he was denied a seat in the parliamentary election.

First Published: May 28, 2019 20:06 IST