Taking a swipe at BJP for raking up the Ayodhya issue, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday that Lord Ram had made it clear to the Saffron party in the last Lok Sabha elections that it would not benefit by using his name.

Rahul, while on a tour to his Lok Sabha constituency Amethi, said BJP and RSS should come to "mainstream politics", a step that will "benefit" the country and create "problems" for Congress. 

He said the "real fight" in the country lay in mainstream politics.

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The first-time MP said he did not want to be considered a "national leader" because from a "high position, one cannot learn."

He pointed out that this was the chief reason he did not campaign in Maharashtra or other states.

"I told my senior Congress party colleagues that if they think my going was extremely critical, only then will I go," he said.

The Gandhi scion also criticised the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh saying the state was "going backwards" in terms of development.

He concurred with Congress president Sonia Gandhi's allegation that the Mulayam Singh government was discriminating against Lok Sabha constituencies Rae Bareli and Amethi.

"The whole state is embroiled in the politics of religion and caste," he charged. Asked about the reasons for lack of development in the state, he said, "The government is not working. There is no power. These are obvious reasons."

Firing yet another salvo, Rahul said it was the Congress and not the SP which had brought about the "BJP's downfall" in Uttar Pradesh.

"The Congress has crushed the BJP everywhere including Uttar Pradesh," Rahul said.