BJP slams Sonia Gandhi, says Congress most communal party

The BJP today hit back at Congress President Sonia Gandhi for her remarks on "increase" in communal incidents in the country after it came to power, saying the charges were "baseless" and an outcome of the party's "desperation".

"The Congress is levelling completely baseless charges and we completely reject this. They (charges) are politically motivated," BJP leader and Union Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters outside Parliament House.

"In fact, the Congress is the most communal party and has a communal agenda of vote-bank politics. It has allied with All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in Hyderabad and Muslim League (in Kerela)," he said.

The party was reacting to Sonia's charge that there has been an "alarming increase" in number of communal incidents since it came to power and asked partymen to resist its "authoritarian and sectarian" tendencies.

Javadekar said the comments reflected the "desperation" of the Congress. "People have whole-heartedly rejected the Congress. The comments are because its desperation is on the rise," the Minister said.