PM insulted people of Kerala, sidelined CM: Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi Monday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Chief Minister Oomen Chandy being not invited to an event to be attended by him in Kollam on Tuesday, saying he has "insulted" the people of the state.

"The chief minister represents the people of Kerala and by not letting him to attend the function, the prime minister has insulted the people of Kerala. This is not acceptable for us. The PM has stopped our chief minister from going to the function," he told reporters.

Both the Congress and the Left suspect a "communal agenda" behind the exclusion of Chandy from the event being organised by SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellapally Natesan.

On Sunday, State Congress president V.M. Sudheeran blamed the PMO for inflicting "shame to the state of Kerala".

"One will have to find out if the PMO had a role in this episode. Also a communal agenda cannot be ignored as this is a shame to the state of Kerala when its CM has been asked to stay away," Sudheeran

Opposition leader Achuthanandan said Natesan was trying to erect the statue of an 'RSS Sankar' in Kollam.

CPI(M) politburo member M.A. Baby said the chief minister's soft response to the SNDP reflected his incapacity to stand up to Sangh Parivar.

Modi is scheduled to arrive in Kerala today on his first visit to the state after taking over as prime minister. On December 15, he will unveil the statue of R. Sankar at Kollam.

Sankar was the former Kerala chief minister and also president of the Congress party.