Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not set his public relations exercise aside for “even five minutes” in his effort to target the Opposition party. Gandhi was speaking at a public rally in Maharashtra’s Dhule ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

“Our prime minister tells the media that India is united after the Pulwama terror attacks, but immediately targets Congress,” Gandhi said. “India’s prime minister can’t leave aside his public relations [exercise] even for five minutes. That is the difference between him and us.”

Gandhi said the prime minister did not even spare the inauguration of the National War Memorial to criticise the Congress. On Monday, Modi had made several remarks against the Opposition party while inaugurating the memorial in New Delhi. The Congress had responded by saying he should not use space dedicated to martyrs for political attacks.

Earlier on Friday, Modi criticised the Opposition’s response to the recent cross-border tensions, and claimed some parties, “guided by Modi-hatred”, have started “hating India”.

The Opposition has criticised Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party for continuing its election campaigning amid tension with Pakistan. On Thursday, Opposition leaders issued a joint statement, expressing anguish over the BJP’s “blatant politicisation” of the sacrifices made by the armed forces.