Venkaiah Naidu slams Sonia Gandhi's remarks on communal violence

NEW DELHI: Hitting back at Congress President Sonia Gandhi over her remarks on spike in communal violence after BJP came to power, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu today asked the party to "introspect" before making such "baseless allegations".

"Congress and communalism go hand and hand. It is the Congress party's divisive politics and communal agenda which has brought the country to this state," the senior BJP leader said.

"That is why Congress has suffered a major setback in the recent elections and they should introspect. Stop such baseless allegations," he told reporters outside Parliament when asked for his reaction on the Congress President's charge.

Addressing a special convention organised by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) in Thiruvananthapuram, Gandhi said there has been an increase in communal violence in the country since BJP came to power and alleged this was part of a "deliberate" attempt to divide the people.

Apparently referring to the recent incidents of communal clashes in Uttar Pradesh, Naidu said Gandhi should also take up the issue with Samajwadi Party government which had supported it at the Centre for the last 10 years.