Rahul Gandhi on Monday warned that the poor would "die of hunger" if they failed to focus on the "real problems" of unemployment and inflation and let the government distract them by getting them to watch videos of film stars dancing.
Rahul was addressing a rally in Amethi, which he represented from 2004 to 2019 before the BJP won the seat. He received a warm welcome, with many shaking his hands and requesting him to contest the Lok Sabha elections from the constituency.
"They (the Narendra Modi government) have involved you in chanting 'Bharat Mata ki jai' and 'Jai Shri Ram'. They are encouraging you to watch the problems in Pakistan, the dance of Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, and forget what is happening in India," Rahul told a rally in Babuganj.
"You need to understand that the way the government is taking everything away from you, it would lead to the end of everything. You all will die of hunger…. Focus on your basic needs, which the government has ignored."
Rahul had earlier too mentioned Bachchan during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, underlining that the poor had been left out of the January 22 Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya while the rich and famous, like the veteran actor, had been invited.
On Monday, he cited an example of how youths were getting distracted from their biggest problem — joblessness — and immersing themselves in cheap entertainment.
"I was in Varanasi a few days ago and I saw drunken youths roaming the streets in the night. They had mobile phones on which they were watching those worthless videos and sending them to others," he said.
“Do you know that the children of the rich don’t waste their time on such videos, that they make money through you? On the other hand, youths from poor and deprived communities are looking for jobs but the (recruitment) examination papers have already been leaked."
Rahul added: "I met a young man who had spent Rs 5 lakh on coaching so he could clear a competitive examination and get a job with the Indian Railways. But he is still unemployed."
He went on: "The government is interested in catering to only two per cent people of the country: the rich. It’s giving them all the public assets and trying to take away your ability to analyse things.
“Fifty per cent (of the population) are OBCs, 15 per cent are Dalits and 8 per cent are Scheduled Tribes. They are 73 per cent and, besides, there are the Muslims and the poor among the upper castes.
“Did you ever try to find out how many from the 73 per cent are owners of those 200 big companies in India? How many from this segment are in the management of these companies? How many from these communities are in the media? How many of them own a private hospital? There are none.
"Of the 90 senior bureaucrats in Delhi, only 7 are from these communities and they sit at the rear of their offices. And who are you? You are labourers. You are expected not to ask for jobs, you are expected to watch the misery in Pakistan. They are getting you to see how Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai… Priyanka Chopra dance."
Speaking after him, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said: “There are vacancies in reserved-category posts but the Centre and the BJP-ruled states are not filling them because the poor and the underprivileged would get the jobs.”
