Key issues like unemployment, inflation find no place in media: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday claimed unemployment and inflation are the major challenges in the country, but these issues do not find a place in the media.

Addressing gatherings as part of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which resumed from Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh after a one-day break, Gandhi accused the media of diverting the people's attention by harping on China, Pakistan, cricket, and Bollywood.

Gandhi claimed the media was busy covering the marriage in the Ambani family but has no time to cover key issues.

"The country is facing three major challenges, namely unemployment, inflation and corruption, but they have disappeared from the media. They (media) will not show you these issues but they will divert your attention by asking you to look at China, Pakistan, cricket, or Bollywood," he alleged.

Why the media is showing Ambani's marriage 24 hours? he asked apparently referring to the pre-wedding bash of Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant in Jamnagar.

Since the media is controlled by billionaires, they either show films or cricket but "75 per cent of issues concerning the common people have no place in their news coverage," the former Congress chief claimed.

"The moment your attention shifts here and there, money would be taken out of your pocket and shifted straight into the pockets of Adaniji," he alleged.

Midway in his speech in Shivpuri, Gandhi pointed at a rifle carried by a security personnel and asked him about its make.

Without waiting for the reply, Gandhi said, "This is an Insas rifle which is being manufactured by Adani with Israel's help under the Indian tag. Earlier, the rifle was manufactured in the ordnance factory, which is now a closed entity".

Speaking about the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Gandhi said money is being taken out from the pockets of the poor and transferred to the pockets of the rich under the tax regime.

"Under the GST regime, rich people as well as the poor have to pay the tax at a uniform rate while purchasing goods. This means the rich pay a certain amount of tax out of their total income but the poor man has to pay a major amount of his total income towards GST," he claimed.

Gandhi said in the past, people belonging to SC, ST, and general categories used to get jobs in public sector units like Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL), but the Modi government has shut down these sectors.

"Earlier, if youngsters wanted to serve the nation they used to get jobs in the Army, but now they (the Centre) have introduced the Agniveer scheme. Under this scheme, if a person is hit by a bullet (killed in the line of duty), he will neither get a pension nor be assigned the martyr status," the Congress MP alleged.

He reiterated that if Congress is voted to power, the new government will conduct a caste census to do justice to various sections.

"The caste census will be a revolutionary step for doing social justice as it will identify the exact number of persons belonging to a particular caste and how much money they have in their hands," he added.