Panaji: The Congress on Monday welcomed the change in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's perception of Kerala, from a place which he had once compared to Somalia, to "God's own country".
"We congratulate the Prime Minister for his change in perception of Kerala, from a state which he compared to Somalia, to 'God's own country'," Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh told reporters here.
Modi during his speech at a BJP meet held in Kerala over the weekend, had said: "When we think of Kerala, we think of God's Own Country, it has an impression of purity and holiness".
During the run up to the state legislative assembly elections held in Kerala earlier this year, Modi had said that the child dead ratio among the Scheduled Tribe community in the southern state was worse than Somalia.
