Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Friday the country was heading into an “authoritarian” state as all who raise their voice against Prime Minister Narendra Modi were being slapped with cases.

Rahul condemned the FIR filed against writers and filmmakers who had signed a letter against lynchings and the use of the “Jai Shri Ram” chant to intimidate others.

“We are moving into an authoritarian state. It is pretty clear. Anybody who raises anything against the Prime Minister, anybody who says anything the government is put in jail. Media is crushed. Everybody knows what is going on,” an angry Rahul told reporters in Kerala’s Wayanad, his Lok Sabha constituency.

“Look, everybody knows what is going on in the country. It is not a secret. In fact, the whole world knows it,” he said when asked about the FIR.

“It is a very simple thing. There is an ideological fight going on in this country. On the one side, there is the ideology that this country should be ruled one man, one ideology and everybody else should shut up. On the other side, the Congress party and many Opposition parties that say ‘no, this country has many divergent views. This country has many different cultures, many different languages and many different expressions. And those voices should be heard’. That is the main battle going on today,” he said.

He blamed Modi for “destroying” the economy.

“Narendra Modi should answer why he has destroyed the Indian economy, why he has created massive level of joblessness in this country, why youngsters of this country cannot dream of getting a job in this country,” Rahul said.

“I want to mention a couple of other things. India’s biggest strength was its economy. That economy has been destroyed by Mr Narendra Modi and the BJP. There is joblessness in the country; GDP growth is not visible anymore,” he said.

Rahul said he could see that even a crucial employment guarantee scheme like the MGNREA was not being funded properly.

“Not only are the people being crushed. The government of India can give Rs 1.25 lakh crore tax benefit to 15 people but in this meeting (that he held in Wayanad) we have to sit and the people of Kerala have to beg for money for MGNREGA,” he said, alluding to lack of funds the employment guarantee scheme.

“People of Kerala have to beg for money for their roads. What is going on? BJP should answer clearly. Is this country for 15 or 20 people?”

The Wayanad MP had earlier met the district officials to discuss the progress of centrally sponsored schemes.

“What about the poor people in this country? What about the labourers in this country? What about the students? What about the people who should be trained. What about the jobs? Who is talking about them? That is what is important in India today,” Rahul said.