Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday spoke against the Modi government for the first time since it came to power after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday spoke against the Modi government for the first time since it came to power after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, alleging that incidents of communal violence had risen during NDA rule.

Making her first trip to the party-led United Democratic Front (UDF) ruled state after the Lok Sabha elections, Sonia Gandhi addressed a special convention of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) in Thiruvananthapuram.

"All party (Congress) members took up the discussion in the Rajya Sabha on incidents of communal violence in the country," said Sonia. "There has been a spurt in communal violence in the country after BJP came to power."

"It is something that is of great concern to the party. In a very short spell, we've had nothing less than 600 incidents of communal violence in Uttar Pradesh, and, perhaps, as many in Maharashtra" said the Congress president. "These incidents are deliberately created to divide our society."

"During UPA regime, hardly any incidents of communal violence took place," Sonia Gandhi said.

Sonia also criticised the Narendra Modi government for its alleged "failure" to sufficiently express solidarity with the Palestinian people over Israel's assault on Gaza.

Alluding to the reluctance of the government to adopt a resolution on the issue in the Lok Sabha, she said "this has muted the country's response to the suffering people and betrayed its long tradition of solidarity with the people in Palestine and the vision of two states existing side-by-side in peace and harmony".

Lauding the Kerala unit of the Congress for observing the "quit violence week" for social harmony and peace from 9 August, Sonia urged the party functionaries and workers to organise more such "positive campaigns" to strengthen secularism for which "the party has always stood".

Sonia Gandhi also lavished praises on the KPCC for embarking on a democratic revamp of the organisation starting with booth level elections earlier this week.

Urging the Congress workers to strongly stick to their ideological moorings of secularism and peace to strengthen the party to meet the challenges ahead, Sonia said the 125th birth anniversary of the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru this year provided an opportunity to organise campaigns on this theme.

She recalled that Nehru's was a life totally dedicated for leading the country to freedom and laying the foundation for a strong nation through hard work and vision.

Last week, Rahul Gandhi had stormed the well in the Lok Sabha raking up the issue of "rising" communal violence.

BJP had hit back at Rahul Gandhi, saying it was Congress which was doing communal politics and the statement itself reflected such a thinking.

The Congress President on Tuesday also voiced concern over the increase in violence against women and said this went against the idea of all people having equal rights in the society to pursue happiness and prosperity.

The organisational restructuring taken up by the Congress in Kerala was an example to be emulated by the party in all other states, she said.

Congress Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge along with party member Jyotiraditya Scindia had earlier on Tuesday met Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, demanding a discussion on incident of communal violence in the House.

(With inputs from PTI)