Congress on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra of using slogans such as `batenge to katenge' and `vote Jihad' to divert the people's attention from real issues such as food inflation.

The BJP-led government's policies have increased inflation and the prices of food items including edible oil have skyrocketed, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said at a press conference here ahead of the November 20 assembly elections.

"Garlic is selling at Rs 500 per kg and onion at Rs 100 per kg. Kitchen budgets of most families have collapsed," he said.

While the Mahayuti government in the state is giving Rs 1,500 to women every month, every Marathi family was being robbed of Rs 90,000 due to inflation, he claimed.

"Slogans like `batenge to katenge', vote Jihad are being used to divert the people's attention from these basic issues," the Congress leader alleged.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other BJP leaders have used the slogan `batenge to katenge' (divided we perish) in campaign rallies.

Khera further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about illegal immigrants in Jharkhand, but the BJP government is in power in the country for the last 11 years.

"So how did this infiltration happen?" he asked.

The saffron party thinks it can fool the people, but the people know its tricks, the Congress leader said.

As to the BJP's question where Rs five lakh crore needed to implement the Maha Vikas Aghadi's five election promises in Maharashtra would come from, Khera said late BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj asked the same question years ago when the UPA government launched the MNREGA scheme.

But the employment guarantee scheme was implemented effectively, he noted.

"If there is money to give MLAs to topple the MVA government in Maharashtra, what is the problem in giving money to the people," he said, taking a jibe at the BJP.

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