Mandya, Oct 9 (PTI): Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today dismissed Prime Minister's remarks on the Dadri lynching incident, while accusing Modi and BJP of "polarising the country" and having a "strategy" to make Hindus and Muslims fight with each other.

Reacting to Modi's first comments amid communal overtones in the wake of the lynching incident in Uttar Pradesh, where he pitched for communal harmony and brotherhood in the country, Rahul said, "It is nice for the Prime Minister to make such comments. But the Prime Minister has a history and the Prime Minister has a party that is behaving in a completely different way which he doesn't seem to want to stop."

Talking to reporters after visiting the families of farmers who committed suicide in this district, the leader said, "The BJP and the Prime Minister have a strategy of polarising this country. They have a strategy of making Hindus and Muslims fight with each other.

"That you can see in every election. There is a polarisation taking place. Riots are taking place. There were BJP people involved in the Dadri incident," he said.

Gandhi's remarks came in response to a question about the comments by the Prime Minister who broke his silence at an election rally in Bihar yesterday amidst the raging row over the Dadri lynching incident, wherein a 50-year-old man was lynched in Dadri over rumors of consuming beef.

In his speech, Modi had said Hindus and Muslims should decide whether to "fight each other" or "together" to overcome poverty while asking the people to ignore "irresponsible" statements of politicians.

"The country has to stay united," Modi had asserted while he invoked President Pranab Mukherjee who underlined the need to maintain India's core values of diversity, tolerance and plurality.

Rahul Gandhi visited the family of a debt-ridden farmer who committed suicide in Mandya and consoled the bereaved family, a party official said.

"It is an unfortunate coincidence that one more farmer committed suicide on a day Rahul was visiting us to interact with families of farmers who committed suicide during the last three months in the district," a party member told IANS from Mandya, 100 km from here.

Gandhi, who is on a two-visit to Karnataka, flew by a helicopter to Mandya after landing at the Bengaluru airport on a Jet Airways flight from New Delhi with party general secretary Digvijay Singh and others.

"When Rahul learnt about the death of the farmer (Lokesh) at Sanabada Koppalu in Pandavapura taluk of this district on reaching Mandya, he rushed to his house, consoled the family and issued a cheque of Rs.1 lakh to his widow," the party leader said.

Taking help of Chief Minister Siddaramahiah in translating his words into Kannada, Gandhi assured the family that the state government would come to its rescue and look after its welfare.

Sensing the gravity of the issue and farmers' ire over the state government's failure to address their woes arising out of debts, arrears from sugar mills, unremunerative prices to their crops and drought due to deficit rains, Gandhi discussed a relief package to them with a group of ministers and state party leaders at the zonal agriculture research centre (VC farm) on outskirts of Mandya.

Besides Siddaramaiah, state unit president G. Parameshwara and former chief minister and external affairs minister S.M. Krishna, who hails from Mandya district, Housing Minister Ambarish and Agriculture Minister J. Byre Gowda participated in the meeting.

"A relief package to farmers is likely to be announced by Rahul at a party meeting in Haveri on Saturday after consultations with the chief minister and officials," the party member hinted.

Even as Gandhi was discussing the farmers' issues, state farmers' body (Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene) members demonstrated on the state highway between Bengaluru and Mysuru against the state government's "anti-farmers" policies.

Returning to Bengaluru in the evening, Gandhi addressed the recently-elected about 3,000 gram panchayat members from across the state at the palace grounds on relief works in 24 of the 30 districts reeling under drought and power crisis.

With IANS Inputs