Youth would not use mobiles 12 hours a day if there was no unemployment, says Rahul Gandhi
Sambhal/Lucknow (UP), Feb 24: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said youngsters would not be using their mobile phones for 12 hours a day had there been no unemployment in the country.
Rahul Gandhi said this while addressing a gathering in Sambhal as part of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
The Congress leader's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra reached Sambhal via Moradabad and Amroha, where Congress and Samajwadi Party leaders welcomed Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Speaking at the Chandausi intersection, Rahul Gandhi asked a man, "How many hours do you use your mobile?" to which he replied, "Twelve hours."
Responding to this, Rahul Gandhi said, "There is no employment in India, that is why you use your mobile phone for 12 hours. Did you know that the sons of big businessmen don't watch Reels, they count money 24 hours (a day)?"
"If you get employment, you will watch Reels for half an hour and work for 12 hours," the Congress leader said.
Rahul Gandhi -- who has claimed several times during the yatra that people from backward classes, Dalits and SC/ST communities don't hold senior positions -- sharpened his attack on their lack of representation.
He said, "If we take out the list of employees of any company take out the list of owners. Not one backward class, Dalit owner will be found. Take out the list of owners of media houses, private colleges or judges of high courts. The same three to four per cent people (from upper castes) keep working in these positions."
Rahul Gandhi also claimed that work is being done to eliminate small farmers and traders.
"You are being starved to death, you are being destroyed. Exam paper gets leaked because these people do not want to provide employment to the youth of India. They cannot provide employment to them," the Congress leader claimed.
Gandhi said he undertook the 4,000-kilometre Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir last year because the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh are spreading hatred in all corners of the country.
Cornering the media, the Congress leader said, "Whenever we present our views in the media, the media does not show it. Be it the hard work of workers, unemployment, inflation -- these things are not going to be visible in the media."
"A shop of love has to open in the market of hatred," Rahul Gandhi said and added, "My work is to fight and eradicate hatred from the country."
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also lashed out at the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, alleging that bulldozers are used to demolish homes of "innocent people" while the "guilty" escape unscathed.
Priyanka Gandhi joined the yatra, which resumed its journey from Moradabad after a two-day halt for the march's final leg in Uttar Pradesh.
She will accompany her brother as the yatra passes through Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Hathras, Agra, concluding at Fatehpur Sikri on Sunday, the Congress said.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is set to join the yatra in Agra on Sunday, a development that comes after the parties reached a seat-sharing arrangement in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls.
Priyanka Gandhi was to participate in the yatra when it entered Uttar Pradesh in Chandauli but could not because of ill health and subsequent hospitalisation.
Addressing the public in Moradabad, she said, "When I came here in 2022, we had made a plan in the manifesto on how to stop repeated question paper leaks. It consisted of a job calendar, which would have the examination date and the date of appointment. We also spoke about making a commission to address all the injustices that had taken place."
The Congress general secretary also said that unemployment and inflation are rising in the country.
"The farmers were protesting yesterday. The farmers are protesting today also but the government is not listening to them. In Uttar Pradesh, bulldozers did not run on the homes of those who crushed farmers under their jeeps, tortured women and leaked question papers. In this government, the bulldozer is not moved on guilty but only on the homes of innocent people," she said.
Speaking about the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, she said "nyay (justice)" was added to the name because injustice is being done to women, children and farmers of the country.
She added that "until you bring about a change, your circumstances will not change".
Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party's Moradabad MP ST Hasan also participated in the yatra.
He said, "At present, the country is going through a terrible situation. Till date, there has never been such a threat to communal harmony. Today, all Indians want that our love and the Ganga-Jamuni culture to remain intact."
The yatra will enter Rajasthan and halt in Dholpur on Sunday.
The Congress has said the yatra will go on a break from February 26 to March 1 to allow Rahul Gandhi fulfil his long-standing commitment to deliver two lectures at his alma mater Cambridge University in the UK on February 27 and 28.
He will also attend meetings in New Delhi during this period, it has said.
The yatra will resume from Dholpur on March 2. It will then move into Madhya Pradesh and cover Morena, Gwalior, Shivpuri, Guna, Shajapur and Ujjain among other districts.
On March 5, Rahul Gandhi will pay obeisance at the Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain. He had offered prayers at the temple on November 29, 2022, during his Bharat Jodo Yatra.
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Here's how netizens, media outlets projected Ashwini Kumar's bomb threat as 'Lashkar-e-Jihadi'
Mumbai: Mumbai was thrown into panic late on Thursday night when police received a WhatsApp message warning of a large-scale terror attack during the Ganesh festival. The message, written in the name of a jihadi group called “Lashkar-e-Jihadi,” claimed that 14 Pakistani terrorists had entered Mumbai with 400 kilograms of RDX loaded in 34 vehicles.
It warned of blasts that could kill as many as one crore people. Authorities immediately declared a high alert, and the case was handed over to the Crime Branch while the Anti-Terrorism Squad and other security agencies were put on standby.
Within hours, the threat made national headlines. Television channels and online portals reported the possibility of a terror strike, repeatedly linking the message to Pakistan-based groups.
The incident was projected as yet another attempt to destabilize Mumbai, and the supposed involvement of a jihadi outfit quickly gained traction across the media. However, a swift investigation by Mumbai Police traced the origin of the message to a very different source.
By Saturday, police had tracked down and arrested Ashwin Kumar Supra, a 50-year-old astrologer and Vastu consultant living in Sector 79 of Noida. Originally from Patna, Kumar admitted during interrogation that he had sent the message using the name of his former friend Firoz. In 2023, Firoz had lodged a fraud case against him at Phulwari Sharif police station in Patna, leading to Kumar’s three-month imprisonment. Seeking revenge, Kumar attempted to frame Firoz by posing as a jihadi terrorist. Police recovered his mobile phone, SIM cards, and other digital devices used in the hoax.
When the threat first came to light, social media was flooded with heated reactions. Journalist @Manju_IBNews wrote, “Another election around the corner!” while user @kv_mcu posted an aggressive comment demanding to “ban Islam and burn the Quran,” calling for mass deportations and tying the incident to culture and religion. In response, @RIMMS51979 countered sharply, saying, “Caller Name is Ashvini kumar what will you burn now.” Another user, @Valkyrie00777, questioned the credibility of the threat, pointing to contradictions in the claim that 14 terrorists had entered India with 34 bombs and 400 kilograms of RDX. Meanwhile, @Liberal51601607 remarked, “Terrorists have no religion.. Anyone..?”
Fact-checkers also weighed in. @zoo_bear (Mohammed Zubair) accused NDTV of omitting crucial context, posting: “Adani's TV hasn't mentioned that the accused Ashwini Kumar sent the bomb threat message to Mumbai police in the name of his friend Firoz to frame him.” The fact-check website Aazad Fact Check (@AazadFactCheck) published a detailed rebuttal, saying the story had quickly evolved into a propaganda tool. It noted that the supposed intelligence about “human bombs in vehicles” was technically flawed and described the entire sequence as “a pure example of Indian narrative building before a false flag operation.”
Adani's TV hasn't mentioned that the accused Ashwini Kumar sent the bomb threat message to Mumbai police in the name of his friend Firoz to frame him. https://t.co/17nZxYOrql
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) September 6, 2025
After Ashwini Kumar’s arrest, the tone of the online conversation shifted sharply. Activist @ShabnamHashmi posted, “Ashwini Kumar 50 Year Old Astrologer from Noida has been arrested for sending these threats in the name of a Muslim. This is how Sangh sleeper cells are spreading hatred. Stop the Hate factory! Vote Out the Vote Chori Gang.” Journalist @indscribe (Shams Ur Rehman Alavi) observed that newspapers splashed the initial threat on front pages but buried the arrest details inside. “When the guy gets caught, the same newspapers don't publish his photo, relegate it to page 14 or reduce it to a single column… Interest gone after ‘name’ found,” he wrote.
Ashwini Kumar 50 Year Old Astrologer from Noida has been arrested for sending these threats in the name of a Muslim. This is how Sangh sleeper cells are spreading hatred
— Shabnam Hashmi (@ShabnamHashmi) September 6, 2025
Stop the Hate factory !
Vote Out the Vote Chori Gang pic.twitter.com/IzpLjWVJgu
Other users highlighted systemic and political angles. @shfique13 argued that there are now “two laws” in the country—one protecting those aligned with the government and another used to suppress truth-tellers. @SoodRajive claimed the episode was staged, alleging Kumar had been paid to frame a minority and calling it “a staged toolkit drama.” User @hussain2577 wrote sarcastically, “Such an innocent n bright person. Plzz grant him bail, Garland him, Give him BJP membership form.” Another account, @Sangliyana, remarked, “Risking his life just to frame a Muslim boy. This is what 11 years corrupting mind.” Finally, @rsbisht__ argued that Kumar’s only aim was to trap Firoz, linking it to what he described as rising hatred against Muslims in Uttar Pradesh under the Modi and Yogi administrations.
