‘System’ run by Modi prefers andhbhakts over students who ask questions, says Rahul Gandhi

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Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi speaks during the 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' programme in Indore. Photo credit: @INCIndia X/ANI

The “system” running the country does not want students as they raise questions, but wants only andhbhakts (blind followers), Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said in an address to students on Saturday (September 19, 2026). The Congress refers to staunch BJP followers as andhbhakts .

Speaking at the fifth ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ student interaction programme in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Gandhi alleged that a “system” had captured the country and was against students and the education system. He said the “system” was being controlled by a handful of powerful people, but students posed a danger to it as they raised questions.

Mr. Gandhi said he had held the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ event in cities like Kota, Pune, Dehradun and Prayagraj, raising students’ issues such as paper leaks, institutional failure, infrastructural collapse and privatisation. “In Indore, we have decided that we will talk about the ‘system’ vs students today,” he said, addressing thousands of youth at Indore’s IDA ground.

“The system has various layers. At the top, there are six people. The system is run by [Prime Minister] Narendra Modi ji . The tasks of threatening and beating up students with a nail-studded baton and pellet guns are done by [Union Home Minister] Amit Shah ji ; he is the enforcer,” Mr. Gandhi said, displaying pictures of several BJP and RSS leaders, top bureaucrats, industrialists and media and film personalities.

The top layer of the alleged system, he said, included Mr. Modi, Mr. Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, and industrialists Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani.

The Congress MP further accused Mr. Doval of digital spying on people by tapping phones and social media.

“Ajit Doval says in informal conversation that ‘if you want to control India, you just have to control 500 people’. He has captured India’s communication. He gets phones tapped and provides information to Amit Shah ji and Narendra Modi ji . Doval is sitting in mine and your phones,” he says.

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Mr. Gandhi also charged that RSS sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat brought ideology to the table and in return, “crores of rupees are given to his organisation to run educational institutions”.

He alleged that industrialist Gautam Adani “finances” the system and “channels the money” earned through government contracts.

“All that money is channeled and given to the BJP for Narendra Modi ji ’s marketing and to run the ‘system’,” he said.

“Below this layer, there are different people who have captured every institution, like politics, business, judiciary, bureaucracy, education, media, entertainment and sports. The ‘system’ has placed its people in every institution,” he said.