Coming out for thefirst time in defence of her son Varun Gandhi over his alleged hate speeches,former union minister Maneka Gandhi Thursday attacked the Congress, saying theparty was pursuing his case actively to "conceal" its "anti-Sikhacts".

"It has become imperative for the Congress to show such tapes (of hatespeeches) to conceal their anti-Sikh acts," Gandhi told a regional newschannel, PTC News.

"It is the Congress which should be ashamed for giving party tickets topeople involved in the anti-Sikh riots in which thousands of Sikhs were killed.The real enemy is the Congress," she added.

Varun Gandhi has threatened to move the Supreme Court after an Uttar Pradeshcourt ruled that there was a strong case against him for his alleged communalspeeches.

Last week, the Election Commission maintained that two campaign speeches byVarun Gandhi contained highly derogatory references and seriously provocativelanguage of an unacceptable nature against a certain community. It requestedthe BJP not to back him as a candidate from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, but theBJP has declined to change its mind.

In addition to the CD portraying Varun Gandhi speaking against the Muslimcommunity, another clip was submitted to the Election Commission by theCongress which depicted him speaking against the Sikh community as well.

"The Election Commission has also dismissed the tape as a fake one and itactually is a fake one because Varun has not said anything like that,"Maneka Gandhi claimed.