What does PM Modi get when he compares Kerala to Somalia? A #PoMoneModi trend

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Kerala recently in a bid to campaign for the BJP. Usually known for his high power public speaking skills, Modi’s speech ran into trouble when he compared infant mortality rate in Kerala to Somalia.

First he drew fire from Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy who asked him to have some “political decency” and to withdraw his remarks. Now, the prime minister s drawing ire from angry Twitter user pointing out the flaws in his comparison with the hashtag ‘Po Mone Modi’.

The phrase “Po Mone” is Mollywood actor Mohanlal’s iconic dialogue from his film ‘Narasimham’. In the film, Mohanlal’s refrain is “Po Mone Dinesha!” which roughly translates to “go man!” or “get lost!”

One Twitter user explains what the hashtag means –

What’s #PoMoneModi mean? Friends tell me: “ja beta ja”. ‘Go home!’…but ‘mone’ is ‘son’, so sort of ‘go home kiddo’’ meets ‘chup be!’ — Prasanto K Roy (@prasanto) May 11, 2016

Some people are comparing the statistics of Modi’s home state (Gujarat) with Kerala and saying that he should get his facts right.

.@narendramodi Ji - Please compare the rankings of Kerala & Gujarat. Stop insulting people of Kerala . #PoMoneModi pic.twitter.com/hIcwPXssfh — Alankar (@AlankarTweets) May 11, 2016

Yet others have used the logic of numbers to ridicule his faux pas, warning that it may cost him votes in the upcoming election.

The arithmetic of Kerala explained below



Kerala literacy ..... 94%

BJP vote share.... 6%

That makes it 100%#PoMoneModi — Vinay Dokania (@vinaydokania) May 11, 2016

There are many others who are not taking the comparison lightly at all and are in fact using the controversy over Modi’s education qualifications to make their point.

Modi's ignorance is so appalling huge racist nature of his gaffe in comparing Kerala to Somalia! Foreign relations Mr PM? #PoMoneModi — swati chaturvedi (@bainjal) May 11, 2016

Kerala happens to be in Top Five in most of the Social Indicators.But what wud a Fake Degree Holder know about Education.#PoMoneModi — Ajeet Singh (@ajeetsin) May 11, 2016

Twitter users took a dig at the photoshop controversy that had surrounded Modi’s visit to Chennai to survey the damage caused by the floods.

Modi hates #Kerala because its achievements are real and not merely photoshopped! #PoMoneModi — Jay Ambadi (@jay_ambadi) May 10, 2016

And then of course, there were memes galore!