The Congress on Wednesday echoed Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s opinion on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fast on Thursday, calling it a tactic to divert attention from more pressing concerns.

Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party National President Amit Shah will go on a day-long fast on Thursday to mark their protest against the deadlock in Parliament during the Budget Session.

“If the government leaves the responsibility of managing the administration and sits on a fast, who will run the government?” Congress Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, adding that the fast was nothing but a “diversion tactic”.

He also highlighted the rape cases of Unnao in Uttar Pradesh and Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the government should focus on ensuring justice in the matters.

In Unnao, a teenager has accused sitting BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar of raping her in June 2017. After she filed a complaint and tried to commit suicide outside Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath’s house in Lucknow on Sunday, her father was allegedly killed while in judicial custody.

In Kathua, the Jammu High Court Bar Association called for a strike in Jammu on Wednesday in protest against the police registering a case against the lawyers who tried to prevent them from filing a chargesheet in the rape and murder case. The police on Monday filed a chargesheet against eight accused, including a juvenile, for allegedly abducting and raping an eight-year-old girl in Jammu in January.

After highlighting these incidents, the Congress spokesperson questioned why crimes against women were the highest in states where the BJP was in power, listing Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. Surjewala said this was an indication of the “mindset of the BJP leadership”.