New Delhi, May 13 (IANS): External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday targeted Kerala Chief Minister Ommen Chandy over his remarks that his government had paid for evacuation of 29 Keralites from Libya, asking who had paid for thousands of Indians from the state evacuated earlier.

Sushma Swaraj, who is recuperating from an illness at AIIMS here, made a series of tweets following Chandy's remarks made in the run up to assembly polls in the state on May 16.

There has been an exchange of words earlier between Congress and BJP over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks comparing some aspects of Kerala to strife-torn Somalia.

"Mr.Chandy - You started this debate - as to Who paid ? Not me. We always did this because this is our pious duty towards our citizens," Sushma Swaraj said in one tweet.

"Mr.Chandy - You said 'Kerala paid for 29 Indians evacuated from Libya," she posted, adding that they evacuated thousands of Indians from Kerala from Iraq, Libya and Yemen.

The tweets were in response to comments by Kerala chief minister, who is furious with Modi for crediting his own government for bringing back the Indians from Libya.

Earlier this week, Modi told a large crowd while campaigning for the upcoming polls that his government had rescued families stuck in Libya.

"Our government has saved six families and evacuated 29 people. The Indian government is committed to working for people who go abroad to work, we have always tried to help them. It gives me immense pleasure and happiness to tell you that they are coming back and will be united with their families soon," he had said at the election rally.