The Congress on Sunday called out Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “lie” with alacrity, challenging him to point out one reference to either Hindus or Muslims in the party manifesto.

In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi described Modi’s remarks as a sign of despondency after the first round of polls and a response to the Congress’s manifesto. Calling it an attempt to divert the attention of the country, he asserted the nation would not fall for it and would vote on real issues.

At the release of the Congress manifesto in Telangana earlier this month, Rahul had talked about a financial and institutional survey to assess who holds the resources in the country. Asked if Rahul had talked about a redistribution of wealth, Amitabh Dubey, who is in charge of research and monitoring in the AICC media wing, told The Telegraph that “he did not”.

“Accept this challenge or stop lying,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said in a video message on X in response to the Prime Minister’s remarks in Rajasthan.

Describing Modi’s comments as yet another effort by the Prime Minister to polarise the electorate in the middle of the general election, Khera said in the video message: “The Congress manifesto speaks of justice to the youth, women, tribals and workers. The Prime Minister has a problem with that and with good reason because the Congress manifesto reflects reality. He wasted the past decade polarising the country and is doing this yet again in this election. He should be ashamed for dividing the country like this.”

Urging Modi to retire instead of constantly lying while holding the office of Prime Minister, Khera added: “Your name will end up in the dustbin of history because of your lies.”

Apologising for saying this, Khera added: “We are learning this language from you.”

Congress communications-in-charge Jairam Ramesh said Modi’s remarks were a sign of how badly the first phase of polling had gone for the BJP. “It seems the Prime Minister has lost his mental balance because of the spectre of losing power.”

The Congress manifesto highlights wealth inequality, referring to a report titled “Income and Wealth Inequality in India, 1922-2023: The Rise of the Billionaire Raj” by leading global economists, including Thomas Piketty, which “shows that India under Modi is more unequal than even under the British Raj”.

In the chapter on the economy, the Congress manifesto says “the three goals of our economic policy were, and will be, work, wealth and welfare”. Among the promises it makes to the people, there is one that says: “We will address the growing inequality of wealth and income through suitable changes in policies.”

In a sub-section on wealth, the party has said that “the Congress is committed to rapid growth and generation of wealth”.

There is, however, no reference to the Congress taking away people’s wealth, let alone “mangalsutras” as claimed by Modi.

Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) weighed in on X: “Won’t share the video clip of the PM. Don’t want to add to it going any more viral than it has. His speech is extremely misleading, hateful in content and is as divisive as it can get.

“It explains two things clearly. First, this cannot be the language of a party speaking of a third term but more a language of desperation. Second, the election commission is clearly avoiding any action against such hate and bile.”