Modi wants youngsters to say Jai Shri Ram, starve to death: Rahul; BJP hits back

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of misleading the younger generation, saying the latter wants the group to chant “Jai Shri Ram and starve to death”.

Updated on: Mar 6, 2024, 05:50:08 IST

By Shruti Tomar, Bhopal

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of misleading the younger generation, saying the latter wants the group to chant “Jai Shri Ram and starve to death”.

Addressing a gathering during the Congress’s ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Madhya Pradesh’s Shajapur, Gandhi said: “Youngsters in India spend at least six to seven hours daily on their mobile phones watching reels (short videos). The youngsters in China are manufacturing mobile phones and our youngsters are spending time on them. I want our youngsters to manufacture mobile phones and those in China to spend maximum time on these devices.”

He added: “But Modi ji wants you to be on your mobile phone throughout the day, chant Jai Shri Ram and die of hunger”.

Gandhi, a Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad, also alleged that social injustice prevailed in every institution in the country, and claimed that members belonging to backward, Dalit and other categories, together forming 90% of the population, do not hold any key positions.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took strong exception to Gandhi’s remarks and said it showed the Congress’s “anti-Hindu mindset”. “What is Rahul Gandhi’s problem if people chant Jai Shri Ram. This shows the anti-Hindu mindset of the Congress,” senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

Meanwhile, the Congress’s yatra was greeted with chants of “Modi-Modi” as it passed through Shajapur city, prompting Gandhi to stop his convoy and meet the BJP workers who raised the slogans.

As a BJP worker gave some potatoes to Gandhi and asked him to turn them into gold, the Congress leader said: “Thank you. Next time I will bring gold.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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