Attacking the Narendra Modi Government over communal violence, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday claimed there has been an increase in such incidents in parts of the country since it came to power and charged this was part of a ‘deliberate attempt’ to divide the people on religious line.
Speaking at a party forum outside Delhi for the first time after the Congress’ debacle in the Lok Sabha polls, Gandhi said recurrence of communal violence in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and some other parts of the country was a ‘matter of grave concern for all’.
Her attack on the BJP-led NDA Government came days after her son and Congress vice-president
Rahul Gandhi alleged that communal conflicts in Uttar Pradesh have been ‘deliberately engineered’ and stormed into the well of Lok Sabha demanding a discussion on the situation.
‘There has been an increase in communal violence in the country, especially in the northern states, since 11 weeks of the new Government came to power... This is something which is of grave concern for all of us... And we believe these were incidents that were deliberately created to divide the people on religious lines,’ she said, addressing a special convention organised by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) here.
‘More than 600 incidents of communal violence happened in Uttar Pradesh and, perhaps, as many in Maharashtra,’ she said, adding that ‘during the UPA I and II rule hardly any such incident had happened’.
Gandhi also criticised the Centre for its failure to come out in expressing solidarity with people of Palestine over Israel’s assault on Gaza, abandoning the policy followed by the country through decades.
Speaking at a party forum outside Delhi for the first time after the Congress’ debacle in the Lok Sabha polls, Gandhi said recurrence of communal violence in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and some other parts of the country was a ‘matter of grave concern for all’.
Her attack on the BJP-led NDA Government came days after her son and Congress vice-president
Rahul Gandhi alleged that communal conflicts in Uttar Pradesh have been ‘deliberately engineered’ and stormed into the well of Lok Sabha demanding a discussion on the situation.
‘There has been an increase in communal violence in the country, especially in the northern states, since 11 weeks of the new Government came to power... This is something which is of grave concern for all of us... And we believe these were incidents that were deliberately created to divide the people on religious lines,’ she said, addressing a special convention organised by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) here.
‘More than 600 incidents of communal violence happened in Uttar Pradesh and, perhaps, as many in Maharashtra,’ she said, adding that ‘during the UPA I and II rule hardly any such incident had happened’.
Gandhi also criticised the Centre for its failure to come out in expressing solidarity with people of Palestine over Israel’s assault on Gaza, abandoning the policy followed by the country through decades.