With an eye on the next year’s general elections, India’s radical Hindu party leader Narendra Modi castigated Rahul Gandhi, the vice president of Congress party, for remarks on communal riots in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh (UP).

In an apparent bid to tempt Muslims, Modi, who is the prime ministerial candidate for his far-right Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), mocked at Gandhi for his controversial remarks that Pakistani agencies are in touch with the affected Muslims of Muzaffanagar riots.

While speaking at a rally in Bundelkhand region of UP on Friday, Modi challenged Gandhi to reveal the name of the intelligence officer whom Gandhi had earlier attributed this information to.

Modi wondered how the ISI could penetrate inside the interiors of the country, which he said puts a question mark on the ruling government itself.

“How is the ISI freely spreading its influence in the lanes of UP under your very nose? What are you doing about it? You are just acting like a news agency...passing on news of what the ISI is doing,” Modi said.

Gandhi, widely anticipated to lead the Congress party on the 2014 hustings, made the comment a day earlier giving leverage to the radical BJP to corner the ruling party and an issue to reach out to Muslims. BJP, which is considered ‘untouchable’ by India’s largest Muslim minority for its racial attitudes, badly needs Muslim vote to make any difference on its parliamentary performance.

Blamed for orchestrating anti-Muslim violence during 2002 riots in Gujarat when some 2,000 Muslims were killed, Narendra Modi ironically alleged that Congress and other political parties like SP and BSP are responsible for dividing people on communal lines.