In a direct attack on the Congress party, the CPI(M) mouthpiece People s Democracy has in its latest editorial said the Congress is trying to prove itself to be more  Hindu  than the BJP with party president Rahul Gandhi having made a flurry of visits to temples in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan during the recent poll campaign.

Peoples Democracy is edited by former general secretary Prakash Karat.

Terming the Congress campaign in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan  a pale echo of the Hindutva platforms  the editorial said the temple visits by Mr. Gandhi in the three States was an  attempt to prove that the Congress was genuinely more Hindu than the BJP.  The manifesto of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh talked of  gaushalas in every panchayat, commercial sale of  gau mutra  and building a  Ram Van Gaman Path Yatra , while in Rajasthan, the manifesto promised the setting up of an education board to propagate Vedic values, the editorial observed.

The People s Democracy said there was visible reluctance among the Congress s leaders to speak out against the lynchings of Muslims.

 If the Congress thinks it can defeat the BJP by such soft Hindutva tactics, it is mistaken. The BJP is going to face electoral reverses in these three States because the people have voted on issues such as jobs, farmers distress, lack of basic amenities and corruption,  the editorial noted.

The CPI(M) is in an alliance with the DMK and the Congress in Tamil Nadu. And the party is in talks with the Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra, a State where the NCP is already in an alliance with the Congress.

The editorial says that the Ram Temple campaign that has been renewed by the Sangh Parivar is only a measure to divert attention from farmer s distress and unemployment, two dominant issues in this poll season.

 As against this discontent, the BJP had to fall back on its communal rhetoric and efforts to smear the opposition as anti-national. Led by Narendra Modi himself, Amit Shah and Adityanath have been at this game,  the People s Democracy said in the editorial.