India’s election sparks claim of ‘politics of hatred’
Rahul Gandhi is taking to the stage in New Delhi and neighbouring Haryana state to implore voters to stick with his ruling Congress party, which is tipped to suffer a crushing defeat in the six-week ballot that starts Monday. That would put an end to the 10-year rule of the Congress party.
Gandhi’s arch-rival Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, is holding rallies on Sunday in the state of Uttar Pradesh where he has been campaigning on reviving the country's ailing economy. Modi's rallies across India have been attended by huge, enthusiastic crowds as opposed to those held by Gandhi.
But in the last days of Modi’s campaign a row erupted along religious lines, with Modi's right-hand man accused of stoking tensions against Muslims, who at 13 percent of the population are the country's largest religious minority.
Amit Shah reportedly told Hindu voters to seek "revenge" at the ballot box while speaking in a part of Uttar Pradesh hit by Hindu-Muslim violence last year that left some 50 people dead.
"This election is about voting out the government that protects and gives compensation to those who killed Hindus," Shah reportedly said on Friday.
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