Kochi: A Congress MLA in Kerala has urged his party cadre to stop addressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi by his surname and stick to his first name.

“Call him just Narendra. We don’t have any issue with the Modi community but we can’t bear this Narendra,” Aluva MLA Anwar Sadath said as he addressed a Congress rally here on Wednesday.

Sadath's comment comes in the wake of a recent complaint filed against Rahul Gandhi for his ‘Why do all thieves have Modi surname’ remark.

Gandhi was disqualified from the Parliament for the remark after a Surat court convicted him in a defamation case and sentenced him to two years. The verdict has been challenged in appeal.

The Congress on Thursday took out a 'night mark' attended by hundreds of workers in the Ernakulam district. The march organised by the District Congress Committee (DCC) as part of the nationwide protests by the party.

Leader of the opposition in Kerala assembly, V D Satheesan inaugurated the rally. He said the Narendra Modi government at the Centre was incapable of answering the questions raised by Rahul.

“Rahul Gandhi is a symbol of the fight for the survival of democracy against communalism, fascism and hatred,” the Congress leader said.

DCC president Muhammad Shiyas presided over the meeting held in Palarivattom at the culmination of the march.