Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said specific families were synonymous with political parties in most cases, unlike in the Bharatiya Janata Party, where the “party is our family”.

Modi’s remark came hours after the Congress appointed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to the post of a regional general secretary of the party in Uttar Pradesh. She is the sister of party chief Rahul Gandhi and a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family that has dominated the Congress and the country’s political life for decades. The appointment is being seen as her official entry into politics.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party is a party of its workers, has been built by its workers, and is dedicated to the nation,” Modi told party workers from Baramati, Gadchiroli, Hingoli, Nanded and Nandurbar in Maharashtra through a video link. “If there is any party that truly abides by democratic ideals, it is the BJP.”

He said decisions in the BJP were taken on the basis of what party workers want and not according to the interests of an individual or a family.

The prime minister told the BJP workers that his government has successfully curbed Maoist activity. Some of the party workers he spoke to were from areas affected by Maoist violence.

“There has been a decrease in Maoist violence in the last four years,” the prime minister claimed. “The number of affected districts has come down from 126 to 90. Maoism has been left behind and development has marched ahead. We have answered them in their own language.”