Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said India would not abandon its citizens stranded in West Asia amid the Iran war and pilloried the Congress for "politicising" the crisis, kicking off the NDA’s campaign in Kochi for the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and several state ministers stayed away from Modi’s official programme amid a raging political row over the exclusion of the state’s PWD minister, P.A. Mohammed Riyas, from the inauguration of the first stretch of the six-lane expansion of National Highway 66.

At the Kochi rally, Modi said the Centre and the Gulf nations were doing everything possible to help Indians stranded during the ongoing conflict in West Asia.

The Prime Minister attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his recent remark that China was dominating drone manufacturing
and India was nowhere close to it.

“The people of Kerala have seen that the Congress prince is unaware of the remarkable achievements of India’s youth in drone manufacturing. Several companies in India are producing drones, and young entrepreneurs in Kerala have startups in this sector. Someone confined to narrow thinking will never be able to see the country’s progress”, he said.

Earlier in the day, Modi reached out to the fishermen community and said the
NDA was committed to their welfare.

During his one-day visit to the state, Modi inaugurated development projects worth ₹10,800 crore.