Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday hit out at the BJP-led Centre while claiming that people in the country were not getting employment and were facing the wrath of inflation.
Addressing a gathering in Sitamadi area of Chhattisgarh's Korba city during his 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', Gandhi asked the people to wake up, claiming their pockets were being robbed and they were being misled.
The Congress MP reiterated his party's demand for a caste census and said it will be done with the people's support.
The backward classes, Dalits and Adivasis (tribals) comprise 74 per cent of the country's population, but not a single person from these communities is the owner or in the management of India's top 200 companies which are being given "all the money of the country", he claimed.
The BJP calls it a "Hindu Rashtra", but 74 per cent of the population and the poor from the general country have been getting nothing. They are only for beating "thali" (steel plate), ringing "ghanta" (bell), showing mobile phones and dying in hunger, he further claimed targeting the Centre.
"Tell me, have you seen any poor, labourer, unemployed person or small businessmen at the Ram Mandir inauguration (last month)? I only saw Adani ji, Ambani ji, Amitabh Bachahn, Aishwarya Rai and other big businessmen. Adani ji, Ambani ji and their families were giving big statements," Gandhi said.
People are not getting employment and are facing the wrath of inflation, while "Adani and Ambani were fetching profit by selling Chinese goods," the Congress leader alleged while terming it as economic injustice.
"You will ask me why my speech is not shown in the media. In the media, Modi ji, Ambani ji, Adani ji and Ramdev Baba will be seen for 24 hours. Rahul Gandhi will not be seen because he talks about the issues," he said.
Gandhi further asked people if they have seen the backward, Dalit and OBC persons as the owners of big hospitals or universities.
"You have slept and accepted loss...chanting 'Jai Shri Ram, Jai Shri Ram' for 24 hours. It is good but your money is being snatched everyday and you are dying of hunger," he said.
He further appealed to the people not to get addicted to mobile phones and rather focus on the real issues.
"If I had come here 100 years ago and asked about the things that make you addicted, you would have answered - liquor, cannabis and charas. Nasha means a person not paying attention to his/her own life and diverted to other things," he said.
Nowadays, people and students are hooked to their mobile phones for 8-10 hours (in a day) which is the "most dangerous addiction," Gandhi said.
"You people are not able to understand. You are spending 24 hours on your mobile phone. Your attention is being diverted," he said.
Gandhi said whether the people visit a temple, mosque, gurdwara or watch a mobile phone, they should ask one question to themselves everyday that how much money they are getting from the country's funds.
"The day 10 lakh people start asking this question, the entire country will be shaken. I don't feel good saying that you don't understand (issues). But, indeed, your pocket is being robbed and you are being misled," he said.
Gandhi also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming he was earlier in a general category caste which was included in the OBC (Other Backward Classes) list in 2000 under the then Gujarat BJP government led by Modi.
"Now you will say I am also not an OBC. I am not an OBC, but I don't like injustice," he added.
Gandhi also criticised the Agnipath scheme, for the recruitment of soldiers as Agniveers by the armed forces, and claimed the Army and the country were being divided into two parts.
The Congress leader offered the microphone to a retired army man, who was with him in his jeep, and the latter then spoke on recruitment for government vacancies.
Gandhi subsequently said, "I forget that I am not Modi ji who does not commit mistake. I am like you (people). Vacancies for the government posts should be filled as it is the public's right to get jobs."
