No place for hatred in democracy: Gehlot

There is no place for hatred and violence in democracy, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said Thursday.

The Congress was opposed to BJP's ideology, but it did not want the saffron party to cease to exist, he said.

Gehlot, sworn in as chief minister last month, was in Nanded in central Maharashtra to inaugurate statues of the 19th century social reformer couple Savitribai Phule and Jyotirao Phule on Savitribai's birth anniversary.

He was welcomed at the Nanded airport by Maharashtra Congress chief and Nanded MP Ashok Chavan.

"This is my first public program since I became chief minister of Rajasthan," Gehlot noted in his speech.

"There is no place in democracy for hatred and violence," he said.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi's fight against the BJP is not personal but ideological, Gehlot said.

"We do not want the BJP to stop existing," he added.

Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai have become immortal through their work and both Dr B R Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi admired them, Gehlot said.

The social revolution the Phule couple brought about, from promoting women's education to abolition of child marriage, needs to be carried forward by today's generation, the senior Congress leader said.