Modi does not want employment for youth as it acts like oxygen for his politics: Rahul

Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the PM does not want the youth to get employment as it works like oxygen for his politics. Addressing a poll rally in Chandni Chowk in old Delhi, Gandhi said there was no need for the prime minister to give lessons on nationalism and he should explain why was he not able to provide employment to the youth.

Gandhi said before Modi came to power in 2014, there was no Hindu-Muslim divide in the country from 2004-2014 but then "he comes from Gujarat and spreads poison".

"The youth now does not know what he has in store for the future. He has fear in his heart. Narendra Modi does not want the youth to get employment because unemployment is oxygen for his politics," he said.

Taking a dig at the BJP, Gandhi said patriotism was to fight with the British and make India prosperous through white revolution, green revolution, information and technology revolution.

"Now, the real patriotism is to provide employment to the youth and I will fulfill it," he said.

The challenge before the country was how to get employment which only Congress could address, Gandhi asserted.

"Youth wants employment but Narendra Modi gets the same youth beaten up and shot with bullets. Soon we will see the countrymen asking Modi step aside.

"Neither Modi nor the chief minister (Arvind Kejriwal) will speak on employment," he said.

Gandhi said that due to communal discord in the country, India was losing a lot of investments as the world was watching what was happening here.

"People have seen India as a country of love and peace and Pakistan as a country full of hatred and anger, but now people are seeing India as a country with violence, hatred and divide. The nation cannot progress if it thrives on hatred," he said.

Both Modi and Kejriwal, Gandhi said, talked about eradicating corruption but the entire country knew that this did not happen. Taking a dig at Modi's 'Pareeksa pe Charcha', in which he addresses students to beat exam related stress, Gandhi said the prime minister should first show his degree. Gandhi said Modi and Kejriwal try to teach patriotism to the youth but there was no need for it.

"The politics of Modi and Kejriwal revolves around hatred. The only funda (strategy) of Modi and Kejriwal is to divide people," he said.

Addressing another rally in east Delhi's Kondli ahead of the February 8 Assembly polls, Gandhi said it was Congress's 15-year tenure, from 1998 to 2013, in the national capital that gave the city its modern infrastructure such as the metro service. Recalling Congress's rule under Sheila Dikshit, he said the late three-time chief minister never complained or gave excuses like Kejriwal.

"Sheila ji never complained," Gandhi said, apparently referring to the bickering between the Centre and the AAP government in Delhi.

He said Modi and Kejriwal might have relations with Delhi in last five years but Congress' link with Delhi is emotional in nature. Slamming Home Minister Amit Shah, he exhorted people not to listen to his speech st it was nothing but "trash". He added the speeches of Modi and Kejriwal were nothing but "lies".