Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday accused the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Congress of having an “anti-woman mindset” and alleged that insulting them was a part of the Opposition’s culture.

Modi was addressing a rally in Tamil Nadu’s Dharapuram district ahead of the state’s Assembly elections on April 6. While his Bharatiya Janata Party is contesting the election in alliance with the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the DMK has stitched a pact with the Congress and other smaller parties.

“These days Congress and DMK have launched their outdated 2G missile, which has one clear target – the women of Tamil Nadu,” Modi said. “Today Congress and DMK have insulted the respected mother of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Palaniswami. God forbid, if they come to power, they will insult many other women of Tamil Nadu.”

The prime minister was alluding to former Union telecom minister A Raja, who at a campaign rally on Saturday, had said that Palaniswami was “born like a premature baby and came all of a sudden”. The former minister apologised a day later, after his comments triggered widespread outrage.

Raja was an accused in the 2G spectrum allocation case. The CBI had alleged the exchequer lost Rs 30,984 crore because of the way licences for the 2G spectrum were allocated when Raja was the Union telecom minister. The DMK leader was acquitted by a special court in 2017.

Modi told the DMK and Congress to “control their party leaders”, as the people of Tamil Nadu will “never tolerate the insult of women” of the state. “Today, Congress and DMK have insulted the respected mother of Tamil Nadu’s chief minister,” he added. “God forbid, if they come to power, they will insult many other women of Tamil Nadu.”

The prime minister claimed it was evident that there could be no women empowerment under a DMK-Congress government. “In their rule, crimes against women are up,” he added. “Local strongman disrupt mindset. They have an anti-woman mindset.”

Modi also referred to the sexist comments made by DMK leader Dindigul Leoni, who had claimed that women were turning fat because they were drinking the milk of foreign cows.

“A few days back, one of the MLA candidates made horrible remarks on women,” the prime minister said. “The DMK has done nothing to stop him.”

Modi appealed to voters to choose their representatives wisely. “On one hand, NDA [National Democratic Alliance] has our development agenda, on the other hand, Congress and DMK have their own dynasty agenda,” he claimed. “The speeches of their leaders have nothing positive to offer, they hardly talk about their vision or work. All they do is demean others and spread lies.”