The Congress on Sunday alleged that the BJP-RSS had “hollowed out and corrupted” the education system, asserting that Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was standing with students demanding accountability.
The party's remarks came a day after Gandhi, speaking at the fifth edition of his youth outreach programme ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ in Indore, alleged that a “rotten system” had taken control of the country, particularly the education sector, and did not want students to question it.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh, sharing Gandhi's post on X, said, “Yesterday, Rahul Gandhi ji revealed the secret of this system that has been suppressing students. Who is this system? The people of BJP-RSS who have seized control over the entire country. On education, on the economy, on politics, on every institution.”
“They have hollowed out and corrupted the education system. Because this system fears students. They ask questions, demand accountability,” Ramesh said in a post in Hindi.
“Now Rahul ji stands with them, the fear among students has ended. Their voice is echoing across the entire country,” he added.
At the Indore event, Gandhi spoke on the theme ‘system versus students’ and interacted with Gen Z participants on education, recruitment and employment.
“The system is afraid of students because students ask questions. The system does not want students; it wants 'andhbhakts',” Gandhi said.
He said students were curious, questioned authority and sought answers on the functioning of institutions, recruitment, examinations and opportunities, while alleging that “andhbhakts” instead spread hatred.
Gandhi also alleged that the “system” had multiple layers and named Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and industrialists Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, alleging that they exercised influence over different aspects of the country's political, institutional and economic life.
His visit to Indore came a day after Bhagwat interacted with around 1,700 Gen Z participants at the ‘Yuva Dharma Sansad’ in Ujjain. Two days earlier, BJP president Nitin Nabin had visited Indore and launched a government scheme.
Gandhi said students posed a challenge to the “system” because they remained curious and questioned what was happening around them.
(With inputs from PTI)