India's opposition has accused PM Narendra Modi of Islamophobic remarks after he claimed his opponents would distribute people's wealth to “infiltrators” if they won power.
Mr Modi told a rally the opposition Congress wanted to distribute wealth to “those who have many children”. His remarks were widely seen as referring to India's Muslim minority.
The Congress party has rejected the claim, which came days after the general election began. Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has often been accused of singling out India's minority communities, especially Muslims.
Rights groups say that they face discrimination and attacks, and have been forced to live as “second-class” citizens under Mr Modi's rule – an allegation the BJP denies. The first of seven phases in the general election was held on 19 April. Results will be declared on 4 June.
Mr Modi made the comments on Sunday during an election rally in Rajasthan state, when he was talking about the Congress party's manifesto. He alleged that the manifesto said it would “take stock” of the gold women traditionally save in India and redistribute it.
“And their earlier [Congress] government had said that Muslims have the first right over the nation's wealth,” Mr Modi alleged.
“This means that they [the Congress] will collect people's wealth and distribute it to whom?” he asked the audience.
“To those who have more children. To the infiltrators. Should your hard-earned money be given to infiltrators?”
Mr Modi was referring to a 2006 speech by Manmohan Singh, who was then prime minister when Congress were in office, where he spoke about empowering minorities so they could share in the fruits of development.
The Muslim community has often been stereotyped as having many children. But experts say that this claim is distorted and opens the community up to prejudicial treatment.
Opposition leaders across parties have criticised the prime minister's comments. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge defended his party's manifesto, saying that it was “for every Indian” and it talks about equality and justice for all.
He called Mr Modi's remarks a panic-filled “hate speech” and a ploy to divert people's attention from the opposition having performed better than his BJP in the first phase of polling.
“In the history of India, no prime minister has lowered the dignity of his post as much as Modiji has,” he said.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi said that “Modi today called Muslims infiltrators and people with many children” and added that since 2002, the only “Modi guarantee” has been “to abuse Muslims and get votes”.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP, Saket Gokhale, called Modi's remarks “hateful and divisive” against the Muslim community and urged people to lodge complaints about the speech with with India's electoral authorities.
There was no immediate response from Mr Modi or the BJP to the opposition criticisms.
The Election Commission of India – which oversees the elections – declined to comment.
