KMS, New Delhi: As the schedule for the Assembly elections in five Indian states had been declared, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said that the upcoming assembly elections are a right time to defeat hatred.

The elections to five states Assemblies — Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gao, Punjab and Manipur — would be held from February 10 to March 7, and the counting of votes will take place on March 10, as the Election Commission of India has announced.

“This is the right opportunity to defeat hatred. #Elections2022, ” Mr Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

The Congress has been critical of hate campaigns and has been alleging that BJP is behind it. The party said, “Enough is enough. The #BJPHateFactory should come clean in front of the entire nation and lay bear the extent to which they have damaged our society. Otherwise, we will.”

The party posted series of tweets and said, “By categorically targeting individuals on the basis of gender, religion, region, occupation, physical attributes, etc, the #BJPHateFactory not only violates their privacy, not only violates their dignity, but also completely violates our Constitutional morality,” reports Indian media.

“Here’s how #BJPHateFactory suppresses your right to freedom of expression & speech: If you are a citizen who dares to speak truth to power through social media, then an army of fake accounts generated through #TekFog is unleashed against you, threatening to destroy life as you know it,” it said.

Besides retaining power in Punjab, the Congress is seeking to defeat the BJP in states of Uttar Pradesh,  Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.

The toughest challenge is in Uttar Pradesh where Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is in-charge with Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel as senior observer.

Apart from Uttar Pradesh, the party is in direct contest with the BJP in three states, while in Punjab, it faces the Akali Dal-BSP and Aam Aadmi Party.