The Bharatiya Janata Party today dubbed Rahul Gandhi's speech in Bahrain as 'irresponsible', alleging that the Congress president was spreading 'hatred' among Indians with his statements abroad like he did in the country.

Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad contrasted the Congress chief's address last night with that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to 270 Indian origin (PIO) parliamentarians in which he focused on boosting ties between India and other countries.

"The nation is watching who is working to break it. It is the Congress which has spread hatred in the country for the longest period," he told reporters while using Congress' association with Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mewani to attack Gandhi.

He said Jignesh, a Dalit leader supported by the Congress in the Gujarat assembly polls, had joined hands with Umar Khalid, accused of raising anti-India slogans in the Jawaharlal Nehru University, and said Gandhi has strengthened Mewani and his allies.

Gandhi had yesterday accused the government of dividing people on the basis of caste and religion, alleging it was converting the anger of jobless youth into hatred among communities.

Prasad questioned Gandhi's remarks and said they had expected that he would not harp on political differences and 'spread hatred in a foreign country as he did in India'.

"The BJP strongly condemns Rahul Gandhi's irresponsible utterances.... He is spreading hatred among people," he said.

Hitting back at the Congress leader, the law minister wondered if the Congress' stand on the triple talaq bill worked to spread love or hate in the society.

He accused the Congress of failing to take a stand on an issue of woman's respect and justice.

Rahul's father and the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had committed a 'sin' by passing a law under pressure from Muslim bodies to negate a Supreme Court order to provide alimony to Shah Bano after her husband divorced her, he said.

The same Muslim body is now opposing the triple talaq bill, Prasad said, claiming that the Congress' decision to stall it in Rajya Sabha was a case of double standards influenced by vote bank politics.

Citing Mudra loans given to tens of millions of people, rise in road construction works and opening of call centres in tier two cities, Prasad said this has led to creation of employment as he refuted Gandhi's charge that the government had not created enough jobs.  --  PTI

IMAGE: Congress president Rahul Gandhi with the Crown Prince of Bahrain, HRH Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. Photograph: @OfficeofRG/Twitter