Jodhpur clashes: Congress accuses BJP of spreading hatred in poll-bound states

New Delhi: After clashes between two communities in Rajasthan, the Congress on Tuesday accused the BJP of spreading hatred in poll-bound states, including Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has "unleashed a sinister and hateful agenda" in Rajasthan as also in the other election going states of Gujarat, Himachal, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh.

He alleged that there will be no communal riots now in Uttar Pradesh or in Uttarakhand as elections are over there and the saffron party has served its agenda.

"Their agenda is to befool people. Their agenda is to divide people. Their agenda is always to do politics of Hindu-Musalman, Shamshan-Kabristan. Their agenda is to put religious and communal divide in the forefront so that the issues of inflation, unemployment, progress and development get relegated to the dustbin," Surjewala told reporters.

"They want that Hindus and Muslims should fight so that nobody asks Modi Ji 'where are the 15 lakh in every account that you promised'. They want Hindus and Muslims to fight in election going states so that people do not question them on their promise of 2 crore jobs a year and the 16 crore jobs to be created over eight years of the Modi government," he said.

The Congress leader further said the BJP wants Hindu-Muslims to fight so that no questions are asked on the price of pulses, food items, atta, vegetables, milk and edible oil so that all these issues get relegated to the background.

He appealed to all fellow countrymen, particularly in the state of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Himachal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, to not fall prey to the agenda of communal divide, hate and polarisation of the BJP government.

Surjewala also drew the attention of the public to the remarks of a BJP MLA, who said that if there are ditches in the road and people cannot walk, they should say "don't pay attention to the ditches or lack of development and say - we are a Hindu Rashtra".

"Hinduism is humanity. Hinduism is compassion. Hinduism is respect for all religions. Hinduism is not a tool for division. Only children of Godse or the successors of Godse can give you such a perverted explanation by disrespecting and dishonouring the tenets of Hinduism," he added.