Rahul Gandhi says Hindu-Muslim hatred being spread 24x7; BJP hits back with 'Tukde Tukde Gang' remark

New Delhi, Dec 24: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP on Saturday of using communal hatred as a weapon and spreading it across the country to divert the attention of people from real issues.

Addressing a big rally outside the Red Fort as the Congress's ''Bharat Jodo Yatra'' entered the national capital, Gandhi said he has not seen violence or hatred anywhere in the country while walking hundreds of kilometres from Kanyakumari to Delhi, but he sees it being spread on television all the time at the behest of the powers controlling the media.

The former Congress chief also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spent thousands of crores of rupees to destroy his image, but he has shown the truth to the country in just a month.

Gandhi also thanked people for the love and support showered on him so far during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which entered its 108th day on Saturday, and said after his request made in Rajasthan, people have opened lakhs of shops to spread love across the country.

Hatred in the name of Hindu-Muslim is being spread through television 24x7 to divert the attention of people from the real issues, he alleged, stressing that this is the truth.

''After doing Hindu-Muslim 24 hours, they will hand over your money and sell all your ports, airports, roads and other assets to their crony friends.... They try to divert your attention all the time,'' he said.

''This is not a Narendra Modi government, it is the Ambani-Adani government,'' Gandhi alleged.

The Congress leader said he has traversed across the country, ''but I have not seen violence, hatred anywhere. But I see it on television all the time.'' ''Thousands of crores are being given to big industrialists but not to common people. These are not policies, but weapons to destroy small businessmen, traders, farmers,'' he said.

Gandhi said the Bharat Jodo Yatra aims at uniting India and will spread awareness against price rise, unemployment, communal hatred and violence.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Sonia Gandhi were present during his speech outside the Red Fort.

The yatra will disseminate for a nine-day winter break and restart on January 3 for its onward journey to Jammu and Kashmir, after passing through Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.

BJP tears into Congress leader with 'Tukde Tukde Gang' remark

Snapping back at Rahul Gandhi, the BJP took a pot shot at him and said he could not even unite his party and talk about uniting the nation.

"Rahul Gandhi reached Delhi during his Bharat Jodo Yatra. He said I have brought message of love but people who are from 'tukde tukde' gang are also walking with him. Sardar Patel was the one who really united India. Have you ever even taken his name? Only because 370 has been abolished now, you talk about visiting Kashmir. You could not even unite your party.... You talk about uniting the nation. You will again loose in 2024... Rahul your own thinking is of dividing the nation," said BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad.

"Rahul Gandhi spoke about 'Make In India'. Today, Gandhi should know that as a result of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for make in India, even Apple and Samsung phones are being manufactured in the country and exported. As a former minister for IT and Telecommunications, I had the privilege of bearing witness to nearly a dozen factories based in China shifting to India," he added.

Lashing out at Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on Tawang clash, Prasad was qouted as saying by news agency ANI, "Rahul Gandhi questioned Indian Army again today. He is asking when will the land be returned? But when was the land taken? Video shows Army giving befitting response in Tawang and he says Army 'pitti hain'. It is his party's strategy to make hateful remarks about Army."