Slamming the Congress and its policies when it was ruling in the past, BJP president J P Nadda on Tuesday said the national party has scattered into pieces while dividing the society and its base has declined across different states where it once wielded power.

The BJP leader also claimed the Congress ruled many states in the country at one time but has no presence anywhere today.

"If you look at Congress, there is division, division and division. Divide the society as much as you can on the lines of north-south, language, caste, creed and religion. The fact remains that while dividing the society they themselves got scattered into pieces," Nadda said addressing a gathering in poll-bound Karnataka.

The party was uprooted from Tamil Nadu 60 years ago and their base shrunk to the extent that they could not come back again in the state, the BJP chief added.

In Kerala, the Congress has ruled but today stands weakened with a shrinking base, while there is squabbling in Karnataka too, Nadda said.

Even in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the national party had power but lost both the places, he added.

Drawing a contrast between the BJP and the Congress, he said the ruling party believes in unity in diversity and respects regional sentiments but at the same time, always takes national aspirations into consideration.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about saint-poet Thiruvalluvar in United Nations, or speaks about Bengaluru founder Nadaprabhu Kempegowda or the poets of India, he was not just talking about the poets. He spoke about the essence of the land through the bards, Nadda said.

"Unity in diversity is not a slogan but the spirit and implementing it, to add people, to bring them together had been our objective," the BJP president said.

Referring to the people who went to Rashtrapati Bhavan to receive the Padma awards, he said never before had anyone gone there barefoot in tribal attire.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed the political culture of India. Today, the people of 'Bharat' go to the President's House," Nadda further said.

The BJP government at the Centre introduced regional languages for students to write the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) for medical courses due to which aspirants who did not know English are also getting selected and becoming doctors.

The Congress is fighting to wrest power from the ruling BJP in Karnataka where the JD(S) is also an important player.

Voting for the Assembly election will take place on May 10 and the results are scheduled to be out on May 13.