Free from Gujarat, Modi to visit cyclone Ochki-hit Kerala, TN fishermen

After Congress President-elect Rahul Gandhi visited villages hit by Cyclone Ockhi and commiserated with families of fisher folk, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also said to visit Kerala and Tamil Nadu soon, an official said.

Putting an end to political criticism, Modi was expected to visit the southern districts of these states, possibly on Monday or Tuesday. However, the exact date is not known.

According to informed sources he will visit two fishing villages here and one in Kanyakumari.

Kerala government officials have that the official intimation about Modi's visit has come.

It was on November 30 that Ockhi struck and left more than 70 fishermen from the southern districts of Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam dead, while more than 250 of them were yet to be traced.

The Kerala government has blamed the Centre and the weather monitoring organisations for not properly conveying the arrival of Ockhi.

The weather officials in their turn have said that right from November 28 at regular intervals, they had alerted the Kerala government of what was in store.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has come under severe attack as despite being in the capital city, he has failed to travel 10 km to visit the grieving fishermen families.

While Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman flew down and visited these villages, the Congress party leadership blamed Modi for not arriving to be with the grieving.

On Thursday, Gandhi spend time with fishermen both here and at Kanyakumari.