Communal violence increased after BJP came to power: Sonia

Speaking at the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee Executive Meet, she alleged that nothing less than 600 incidents of communal violence were reported from places like Uttar Pradesh, and as many from Maharashtra after BJP came to power.

"Incidents of communal violence especially in North have increased in the 11 weeks of new government. This is of great concern to all of us. During UPA 1 and UPA 2 there were not such violence," she said

Sonia said the incidents were created deliberately.

Earlier, in an interview Rahul Gandhi  said the communal violence in Uttar Pradesh are artificially engineered.

Speaking to Indian Express, Gandhi said: “Communal conflict is being artificially and deliberately engineered in our country, especially in Uttar Pradesh. This is a deliberate strategy to divide the poor of this country and pit brother against brother; to prevent people from uniting to fight the true enemy — inequality, poverty and lack of opportunity.”

“This politics of promoting polarisation and divisiveness for electoral gain must end,” he told the newspaper.

He said the  communal incidents go “against the very heart of this nation and causes deep damage to the foundation upon which it was built… It poses unimaginable long-term dangers for the future of our country”.

Rahul Gandhi recently led his party in Parliament on the issue and demanded debate on the Communal Violence Bill in view of the Meerut situation where a teacher was gang-raped by members of another community and was alleged forced to convert.