Rahul Gandhi today said the Congress stands with the persecuted and the "last person in the line" and seeks to erase "hatred and fear", breaking his silence on the controversy following a remark on the Congress being a "party for Muslims" attributed to him.
The Congress has denied the remark published recently in an Urdu daily as false and baseless.
"I stand with the last person in the line. The exploited, marginalised and the persecuted. Their religion, caste or beliefs matter little to me.
"I seek out those in pain and embrace them. I erase hatred and fear. I love all living beings. I am the Congress," the Congress president said on Twitter.
The BJP and the Congress have been sparring after the Urdu daily reported that Gandhi, who met Muslim intellectuals earlier last week, had told them that the Congress was a party for Muslims.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also raised the issue during a speech in Azamgarh over the weekend, saying, "I read in the newspaper that the Congress president had said that Congress is a party of Muslims, and there has been discussion on this for the past two days."
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