Rahul Gandhi: I stand with the last person in line, need to erase hatred and dread

New Delhi, Jul 17 Congress chief Rahul Gandhi today said he stands with the persecuted and seeks to delete "hatred and fear", breaking his silence on the contention following a detailed comment on the Congress being a "party for Muslims".

The Congress has expelled the report in a Urdu daily as "rumour" and affirmed that it was a party of 132 crore Indians.

"I remain with the last person in the line. The misused, minimized and the abused. Their religion, caste or beliefs matter little to me," Gandhi said on Twitter.

"I search out those in pain and embrace them. I delete hatred and fear. I love all living being. I am the Congress," he said.

The BJP and the Congress have been competing after the Urdu daily reported that Gandhi, who met Muslim intelligent people before a week ago, had revealed to them that the Congress was a party for Muslims.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while conveying a speech in Azamgarh throughout the end of the week, also raised the issue, saying, "I read in the daily paper that the Congress president had said that Congress is a party of Muslims, and there has been discussion on this for the past two days."

"I am not surprised as when Manmohan Singh was PM, he had said that Muslims have the primary directly finished regular assets, he had said.