BJP against women: Rahul

• ‘BJP and Modi are dividing India like the British’
• Sonia tries to strike an emotional chord in Amethi
• Mamata govt shielding scamsters, says Cong v-p

Nagaon: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi accused BJP of paying "only lip service to women" and said its posters carried the picture of Narendra Modi even while speaking of strengthening women. "BJP talks about strengthening women. I have seen their posters in Delhi talking about it but there is a photo of one man only... There is no photo of Sushmaji or other BJP women leaders... Only of one man," he told a poll rally here.

Continuing his criticism, Gandhi said, "BJP workers go to Mangalore and women are beaten up. In Madhya Pradesh a minister in the assembly says 20,000 women are missing. It is strange that the government does not have a clue where these women have disappeared. Rahul accused Modi of instigating people to divide the country like the British.

"Like the British Raj, the opposition and Modi also believe in the divide and rule policy. Modi goes to Maharashtra and instigates people there," he asserted. Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday tried to strike an emotional chord in Amethi at a public rally and told the gathering that she had given her son Rahul Gandhi to the people of Amethi in 2004.

"You have given a lot of love to Rahul and Priyanka and we are grateful for it," Gandhi said and added that despite a lot of pressure, the Congress flag was flying high in the constituency. Claiming that big scams are happening in West Bengal, Rahul launched a scathing attack on the Trinamool Congress government in the state accusing it of shielding scamsters. "Bigger scams are happening in Bengal. You all know about the Saradha (chit fund) scam, 20 lakh people have suffered losses.

"The Sebi and the ED (Enforcement Directorate) have been clamouring for action, but the government here is taking no action, rather, it is shielding them," Gandhi said at a party rally in Shamsi of Malda district.

New Delhi: Narendra Modi is sending an "unmistakable signal" of his "bias and bigotry" against Muslims to the nation by consistently refusing to wear a skull cap, Congress charged. "It's not as simple that he did not wear a skull cap. That is the only headgear he refuses to wear. He wore all kinds of outlandish headgears including one with a dead bird of an endangered specy. He wore the headgear of Nagaland, turban and saafa.

"By not wearing the skull cap, he is sending an unmistakable signal to his hardcore supporters that he will not cater to the needs of this community. He never misses an opportunity to signal his bias and bigotry to the nation," party spokesperson Shashi Tharoor told reporters. The Congress spokeseperson also pointed out that Modi's frequent reference to Rahul Gandhi as "Shehjade", "burqa of secularism" and calling Ahmed Patel as "Miyan Ahmed Patel" are also meant to send this signal about his "very narrow, bigoted framework" of thinking. He said if Modi wanted to describe Rahul Gandhi as prince, he could have also used the word "Rajkumar" but he uses a word which seeks to identify a particular community as target.