In a frontal attack on the Narendra Modi government, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today said there has been an "alarming increase" in communal incidents since it came to power and asked party men to resist its "authoritarian and sectarian" tendencies.

"It is our task to play the role of a vigilant Opposition, to stand up for the values and policies of the Indian National Congress, and to resist the authoritarian and sectarian tendencies of the new government as it tries to get its way in Parliament. "This we have begun to do, I believe, with increasing effectiveness," Gandhi said addressing the second meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party in the new Lok Sabha.

She also accused accused the BJP of having "nothing new to offer the country." She said the BJP, since coming to power, has implemented the policies that were introduced by the government her party led till May, when it was crushed in the national election. "But they are welcome to steal our ideas... imitation is the best form of flattery," she said.

Gandhi's comments were made in a speech to her party's law-makers at Parliament this morning, where she acknowledged that "we have been reduced in numbers to an all-time low in the Lok Sabha."