Thiruvananthapuram: Congress leader A P Abdullakutty has courted controversy by praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the BJP-led NDA's massive victory in the Lok Sabha election, prompting the party to seek an explanation from him.

Pointing out that the victory was acceptance of Modi's development agenda, he said the secret of the PM's success was that he had adopted Gandhian values. He also hailed the centre's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA), which envisages cleaning up India's cities, towns and rural areas and to eliminate open defecation through construction of household-owned and community owned toilets. The congress leader also lauded the Ujjwala Yojana in which the government's aim was to distribute 50 million LPG connections to women of BPL families.