New Delhi: The Congress on January 13 sought to drive a wedge between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ally Shiv Sena following the large turnout at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Mumbai on January 12 night, marked by absence of Sena leaders, and said the lead National Democratic Alliance (NDA) party posed a threat to all its partners.

"Modi's rhetoric poses a threat to partners of NDA. This is the political implications of his performance last night at Mumbai," party spokesman S Jaipal Reddy told reporters.

"Lo behold, Modi tried to trespass Shiv Sena in Mumbai yesterday," he said, adding the Gujarat Chief Minister "and his ilks were a threat not to Congress but to these partners of BJP which are supporting its government at the Centre".

During the debate on Gujarat in Parliament, he said Shiv Sena was the only NDA partner which supported Modi while every other party condemned violence in the state as "severely" as Congress did.

Recalling Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Vinay Katiyar's recent statements on cultural nationalism and B R Ambedkar which have irked BJP, Reddy said, "He did not want to be left behind and has taken the brazen communal campaign to far and greater lengths than Modi."

"Among leaders of BJP, there is an attempt for competitive hate campaign. Katiyar, a new interpreter of hindutva, is trying to reinterpret the philosophy of Ambedkar and Congress is determined to fight this campaign," he said.

PTI