File photo of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi
It was a meeting of the BJP to ratify Amit Shah's appointment as party president, but Prime Minister Modi didn't miss the opportunity to take on the Congress.
"Despite their humiliating defeat, those who cannot move away from vote-bank politics are harming the social fabric," the Prime Minister said while addressing the BJP's National Council in New Delhi. Though Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi wasn't named, it was clear who the barb was aimed at as the remarks came hours after Mr Gandhi's interview appeared in a newspaper. In it, he alleged that the ongoing communal conflicts in Uttar Pradesh have been "artificially and deliberately engineered" as part of a strategy to "divide the poor". (
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He went on to say, "This politics of promoting polarisation and divisiveness for electoral gain must end."
As the BJP and Congress traded charges, the comments also triggered a blame game among political parties for the spike in violence in the country's biggest state. CPM leader Sitaram Yechury targeted the Modi government. He said, "Data from Home Ministry says that 623 communal violence cases have been reported after the Modi government came in to power. Most of the areas where the violence has taken place will go to the polls soon. This is aimed at gaining votes." (
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Samajwadi Party (SP), which rules Uttar Pradesh and has come in for severe criticism for its handling of the law and order in the state, also blamed the BJP. "They are trying to instigate feelings in UP. They want to divide our society," accused SP leader Gaurav Bhatia.
A furious BJP hit back. "Uttar Pradesh has the SP, which supports the Congress, and riots are happening there. The Congress itself is behind the communal riots," said BJP leader Prakash Javadekar.
The allegations and counter allegations aside, while politicians continue with their attempts at one upmanship, innocents continue to bear the brunt of the violence in UP, large parts of which are increasingly seen to be a communal tinderbox.