BJP uses communal hatred as weapon, says Rahul in Delhi

New Delhi: 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." Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Sonia Gandhi and Makkal Needhi Maiam leader Kamal Haasan 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 journey to Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, traffic was affected in Delhi on Saturday as the Yatra entered the city. Busy road stretches, such as the National Highway 24 at Ghazipur, the ITO intersection and the Ashram chowk, witnessed massive traffic snarls. Vehicular movement was affected in southeast Delhi in the morning hours as the yatris marched into the city, and subsequently, near the India Gate as they resumed their walk after a break in the afternoon.

The traffic police had issued an advisory on Friday, cautioning commuters about the routes that were likely to be affected by the yatra.