Rahul Gandhi names six at top of 'system', says it wants 'andhbhakts', not students

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has alleged that the "system" running the country does not want students who raise questions and prefers unquestioning followers instead, and he named six people he said sit at the top of it.

Mr. Gandhi was speaking at the fifth edition of 'Chhatron Ki Goonj', a student interaction programme, at the IDA ground in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, where he addressed a large gathering of young people.

"The system has various layers. At the top, there are six people," he said, naming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, and industrialists Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani.

He said the "system" was run by Mr. Modi, while Mr. Shah was its "enforcer". Displaying photographs of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and RSS leaders, senior bureaucrats, industrialists and figures from the media and film industries, he described what he called the top layer of that arrangement.

Mr. Gandhi alleged that Mr. Doval oversees digital surveillance, including the tapping of phones and monitoring of social media. Quoting what he said was a remark by Mr. Doval in informal conversation, he claimed that controlling India required controlling only 500 people. "Doval is sitting in mine and your phones," he said, alleging that information gathered this way is passed to Mr. Shah and Mr. Modi.

He alleged that Mr. Bhagwat "brought ideology to the table" and that, in return, "crores of rupees are given to his organisation to run educational institutions". He further alleged that Mr. Adani "finances" the system and "channels the money" earned through government contracts, which he said is given to the BJP for Mr. Modi's marketing and to run the system.

None of the individuals named, nor the BJP, the RSS or the Union government, was quoted in the report of the speech, and the allegations were not accompanied by documents or other evidence at the event.

Below that top layer, Mr. Gandhi said, "there are different people who have captured every institution", including politics, business, the judiciary, the bureaucracy, education, the media, entertainment and sport. As an example, he said the "entire contract of cricket" had been given to Mr. Shah's son, Jay Shah, a cricket administrator, despite the country having many players.

Mr. Gandhi then drew a contrast between students and "andhbhakts" — a term used by the Congress for staunch BJP supporters, roughly meaning blind followers. He said students are curious, humble, fearless, honest and respectful towards women, while, in his description, andhbhakts are delusional, arrogant, cowardly, patriarchal, dishonest and given to spreading hatred.

He claimed the system does not want students because they ask why institutions such as the judiciary, the bureaucracy and the Election Commission "are not doing their jobs properly". "This is why the 'system' does not want students. It wants andhbhakts who are anti-students. It prepares and promotes andhbhakts," he said.

He also claimed that those who run the system do not want their own children to become andhbhakts and send them to study abroad, and that more than one lakh schools have been shut across the country.

Mr. Gandhi said he had earlier held the 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' programme in Kota, Pune, Dehradun and Prayagraj, where he raised issues such as question paper leaks, institutional failure, infrastructural collapse and privatisation. "In Indore, we have decided that we will talk about the 'system' versus students today," he said.

The remarks are political allegations made at a public event. The BJP has previously rejected comparable charges by Mr. Gandhi as baseless.