Lucknow, Sep 12 (IANS): Under attack for alleged irregularities in coal block allocations, the Congress Wednesday charged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with "misleading the nation with a bunch of lies".

The BJP had mastered the art of gossip and rumour mongering and it was no surprise that it was spreading canard against the UPA II government over coal block allotments, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters.

"They had accused the Congress of forcibly sterilising young men and senior citizens during Emergency, they had charged the late Rajiv Gandhi with getting kickbacks in the Bofors gun deal... this is their style of creating hype on non-issues," Azad said.

With Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh next to him, Azad went on to accuse the BJP of making attempts to destabilise the country.

"BJP is running away from truth as its chief ministers are involved in recommending allocation of coal blocks," Azad said.

He said he had not seen such undemocratic behaviour by any opposition party in his entire political career.

The BJP, he said, was creating hype around false allegations to gain mileage in the forthcoming elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

Digvijay Singh added that the BJP government in Chhattisgarh was helping a close aide of its national president Nitin Gadkari while allotting a coal block at throwaway prices.

"Coal block allotments have been strictly state government recommendations. Will the Chhattisgarh government explain why a single bid tender of SRS Infrastructure, a company owned by a close Gadkari aide, was accepted by the Chhattisgarh Mining Development Corp?" he asked.