PTI, VIZHINJAM/KANYAKUMARI: Reaching out to fishermen community in the wake of havoc caused by cyclone Ochki, Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi today said his party would 'strongly' raise in Parliament the issue of setting up a separate ministry for them. He stated this during a visit to Poonthura and Vizhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, which bore the brunt of the cyclone.

In Kerala, he pitched for a better system of cyclone warning system to prevent loss of lives and also said his party would bring pressure on the state government to provide adequate compensation to the affected families. The Congress leader, on his first visit to the south after being elected President of the party, interacted with the fishermen community and heard their grievances while assuringall possible help by his party.