Choose one who has guts to take your questions: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul, who recently visited the families of two jawans who died in the Pulwama attack in Shamli, in western UP, said he met several youngsters on the way who said they were jobless.

Rahul Gandhi takes a selfie with Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit during an interaction with students in New Delhi on Saturday |PTI

NEW DELHI: The Congress will accord the status of martyr to paramilitary jawans who make the supreme sacrifice if the party comes to power, Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday, amid a war of words between the opposition and the BJP over the Pulwama terror attack in which 44 CRPF men were killed on February 14.

“At present, the paramilitary personnel who lay down their lives in the line of duty, don’t get the status of martyr. However, the Congress, if voted to power, will accord them the status of martyr,” Rahul said, addressing a conclave of youth on the theme, Future of Education in India, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Saturday.

Rahul, who recently visited the families of two jawans who died in the Pulwama attack in Shamli, in western UP, said he met several youngsters on the way who said they were jobless. “We should solve the employment crisis to remove anger in the society. But the Modi government does not even want to accept that there is an employment crisis,” Rahul said.

The Congress chief said he could relate to the families of the slain jawans as, he too, had to cope with a similar tragedy. “While talking to the families of martyrs, I knew what it felt like to be where they were. My father, too, was blown to pieces and my grandmother was riddled with 32 bullets,” he said referring to the assassinations of former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.

The Congress chief said he did not believe in a rigid structure of education and promised to empower the students. “When I say government should support education, it means, making bank loans easier, introducing more scholarships, adding more universities and pushing enrolment. If you look at all these yardsticks individually, they have all shown a decline in the Modi regime,” the Congress president said.

Terming demonetisation as the biggest scam, Rahul said “One day, the truth will come out.” He reminded the youth that the previous UPA brought the RTI Act to increase transparency and curb corruption but the Modi government demolished the law. “RTI should be enforced uniformly in judiciary, press and also on individual bureaucrats, not just political parties. There are multiple ways to attack corruption — Lokpal Bill being one of them,” Rahul said.

Rahul urged students to support a leader who would take their questions, not duck or evade them. “You may or may not like me, but make sure the one you support has the guts to stand in front of you and talk to you. If he doesn’t, then you need to question why,” he said.