BJP, RSS view India as a map, Congress sees it as the people here: Rahul

The BJP and RSS view India as a geographical territory or a map, but Congress' views the country as the people here and the relationships they have with others here and globally, Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday.

"Some people view India as a map. They see it as the space bordered by lines. That is the vision of BJP. Our (Congress) vision is different. Our vision of India is the people here and the relationships they have with others," he said.

"For us India is not a map, it is not just a physical boundary of lines, it is carried everywhere by the people living here. We carry India inside us and it evolves every day. That is the difference between how the RSS and BJP view India and how the Congress views India," Rahul Gandhi said.

He was speaking at the inauguration of a Recreation Centre for senior citizens in Kozhikode district of Kerala.

The Congress MP, in Kerala for a day, said that when people from here go abroad, people see the values, culture and traditions of India through them "and that is how we carry our nation everywhere with us."

He further said that "some people confuse the idea of India with hatred, anger, distrust and violence", but "we do not do so".

Earlier in the day, while speaking at the inauguration of a dialysis centre in Malappuram district of Kerala, the Congress leader had expressed a similar view when he said that people like V D Savarkar describe India as a geographic entity.

"They will draw a map and say that what is inside the lines is India and anything outside it is not. For me India is the people here and the relationships they have with others," Rahul Gandhi said.