LUCKNOW: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday condemned his party's Saharanpur Lok Sabha candidate Imran Masood's hate speech against BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, even as he shared dais with his wife at a public meeting to endorse his candidature.

He went ahead with the meeting amid reports that he may cancel his visit to Saharanpur amid outrage over Masood's speech.

Rahul insisted he disapproved of Masood's comments threatening to "chop" Modi "into pieces" saying they are against the Congress's ideology "which advocates love, peace and brotherhood".

But he added the remarks were made a few months ago. "A few months ago, our candidate used harsh words for the opposition candidate. That's not our tradition. No matter what the opposition says about us, we always respond respectfully,'' he said.

Masood's wife, Shaima, said her husband had been implicated on false charges. She described herself as a daughter and daughter in-law of Saharanpur and added she had come there with her children to seek blessings of its people.

Her sharing the dais with Rahul in Saharanpur is significant as Congress may have to change its candidate from the seat in wake of the police case against Masood.

Separately, the Congress made a representation to Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Umesh Sinha stressing Masood's alleged hate speech was made six months ago "and hence, does not amount to violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC)".

State Congress communication department chairman Satyadev Tripathi said Masood became a member of the party on March 8, 2014, whereas the speech was made on September 18, 2013 in the representation.

The Congress asked the CEO to revoke charges of MCC violation against Masood as it came into effect on March 5 and the speech was made before that.

"The speech was given as leader of Samajwadi Party but the administration had kept their eyes and ears closed for long and no action was taken against him,'' Tripathi said. He alleged no action was taken because he then belonged to the ruling party.

Tripathi questioned the BJP why it did not raise the matter then and accused the party of trying to take political advantage of it ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. The Congress spokesperson alleged the BJP had earlier promoted its leader, Varun Gandhi, who is accused of similar charges.