PM Modi, BJP Have Strategy to Polarise Country: Rahul Gandhi

Mandya, Karnataka: Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP amid politics over the mob killing of a Muslim man in Dadri over beef rumours, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today said: "The BJP and the Prime Minister have a strategy of polarising this country. They have a strategy of making Hindus and Muslims fight against each other."

Speaking to reporters during his visit to Karnataka, the Congress vice president said: "You can see that in every election, polarisation taking place, riots taking place. There were BJP people involved in the Dadri incident."

Mr Gandhi's comments come a day after PM Modi, accused of keeping silent on the Dadri killing, made a strong statement and said Hindus and Muslims must fight poverty, not each other.

Dismissing the Prime Minister's pitch for communal harmony, Mr Gandhi said: "It is nice for the Prime Minister to make such comments. But the Prime Minister has a history and the Prime Minister has a party that is behaving in a completely different way which he doesn't seem to want to stop."

Mr Gandhi is on a two-day visit of the Congress-ruled state, during which he will meet farmers affected by drought and other factors. He accused the Centre of neglecting farmers' interests.

"The central government does not think that agriculture or the farmer is important. Whether it is the issue of Minimum Support Price (MSP) or crops being destroyed by bad weather, the government does not seem to have a strategy. It does not give priority to farmers," he said.

Saying that farmers were committing suicide in large numbers, the Congress leader said the Centre must act.

"The Prime Minister has to take a look at it and help the farmers of the country," he said, pointing out that his party's government had given a loan waiver of Rs 70,000 crore to the farmers.

Mr Gandhi will go on a 'padyatra' or foot-march tomorrow and interact with farmers, students and women workers in Haveri district.

Targeting the Centre on the state of farmers, he said that "the sad part is that the support which the central government should give to the state is missing. The state has made demands which the central government is not taking seriously. The central government does not think that agriculture or farmer is important. This is very unfortunate."

Claiming that when UPA was in power, it did not view farmers "as Karnataka, Bihar or Jharkhand farmers", he alleged, "The BJP government views different states differently. If the state is controlled by them, they have a different idea, if not, they have a different idea. It is very sad. The people who are suffering are all Indian people. The issue is how sensitive you are to farmers."

Mr Gandhi also took a swipe at PM Modi's foreign visits. "Our PM goes everywhere, he goes to US may be he should spend sometime with the farmers of this country and Karnataka," he said.