Rajasthan Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday warned the country could plunge into civil war if hatred over caste and religion is allowed to spread.

Addressing a press conference here ahead of the launch of the party's 3,570-km 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, Gehlot also said there was a need to give the slogan of 'Bharat Jodo' as an atmosphere had been created in the country, for the first time since Independence, that there is hate, tension and violence.