PRAYAGRAJ (UP): Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Shri Rahul Gandhi on August 8, 2026, exhorted the youth and the students of the country to change the system with love and non-violence, as thousands of students gathered here to listen to him. Interacting with thousands of students and youth who had converged here at the ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ programme, he said that the existing system in the country has destroyed employment avenues, captured universities and destroyed the future of the youth.

Leader of Opposition Shri Rahul Gandhi started his interaction with students recalling his family roots in the city of Allahabad and said that my family used to live here, so I’m always happy to be here. It used to be a center of knowledge. There was a time when Allahabad University was one of the best universities in the country.

He said that another thing has happened in the 21st century. If a country progresses in the 21st century, it does so on the strength of two things: the youth potential you possess, and the data you create. India has youth, India has the most data in the world. Every Indian uses 1 gigabyte of data every day. And if there will be progress, if there will be a future, it will be based on data and your potential… Youth + Data = 21st -century economy. Brothers and sisters, everybody speaks about AI, but I want to make one thing very clear– AI is meaningless without your data. If AI is created, it is created on the basis of your data… it is India’s capital, its strength, its assets.

He summed it up in three words; “Data, Dard and Daulat”, saying that while the data belongs to the youth, they are subjected to unparalleled pain and the wealth is controlled by others. “Data is yours. Dard (pain) is yours and wealth is theirs”, he remarked, pointing to a slide showing Adani, Modi-Shah and Mohan Bhagwat.

Congratulating the youth and the students for showing light in the darkness, he told them, “When everything around looked dark, you showed the light and you did what your parents couldn’t do… by overcoming the fear and changing the country.” Above all, he added, “You did all this, you raised your voice with love and not hatred.” “You are the torchbearers in the darkness. You have awakened the youth and students of the country,” he told the enthusiastic audience of young Indians, adding, “We will never work with hatred and violence as India’s culture believes in love, harmony, civility and non-violence.”

Shri Rahul Gandhi said that the existing system in India does not offer any hope to the youth. He said that all job avenues like the government, public sector undertaking, manufacturing, and corporate jobs had vanished. Manufacturing, he said, was destroyed with demonetisation and flawed implementation of GST.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Shri Rahul Gandhi identified three parts of the system, represented by Adani, Modi-Shah and the RSS. He said that during the last ten years, Adani’s wealth had multiplied thirty times and he was financing the entire system. He said that the BJP’s bank balance during the last ten years had risen from Rs. 150 crores to Rs. 10,000 crores. He said that Modi diverts people’s attention and runs his own political system. He said that the RSS was using the system to control the thought and idea, pointing out RSS ‘pracharaks’ have been infiltrated into the entire system. He said that the Allahabad University, which was once considered to be one of the best universities in the country, has an RSS pracharak as the Vice Chancellor. Similarly, he added, the pracharaks were there in the bureaucracy, paramilitary forces, judiciary, media, universities, colleges and everywhere to control people’s thought.

He told the youth, “You are India’s spirit, you are India’s future, you are the most beautiful youth in the world, you cannot allow yourself to hate anyone and cannot allow yourself to be violent, because you are the loving youth who will open ‘mohabbat ki dukan’ everywhere”. He told the youth that they are the strength of India, they are the power of India and they are the pride of India. “You possess intelligence, imagination and great capability and if this country moves ahead, it will be because of you.”

Shri Rahul Gandhi noted that India has the biggest youth population in the world as there are 40 crore youth living in this country. He said that countries like China, America and Russia were nothing in front of the potential of the youth of India.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha also invited on stage several students from different states, who narrated their bitter experiences with the examination and recruitment system in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Some students also revealed how they were hounded and harassed by the Bihar government after they had given a call for the bandh against the police brutalities on students at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on July 20.

Student Ajay Raghav said, “Sir, I am a UPSI aspirant, and UPSI recruitment in Uttar Pradesh occurs every five years. Before it was announced in 2020-21, there was a massive scam. I believe it was the biggest scam in India’s examination history. Hundreds of FIRs were filed, and over 350 fake elements and dummy candidates were caught. We provided them with hundreds of pieces of evidence, but they completed the recruitment. Sir, it was my dream to become a sub-inspector; I come from a farmer family. So, I started studying again in the hope of a new recruitment drive... and four years passed. Sir, UPSI recruitment came again in 2025, and these things happened in 2025 as well. Sir, they don’t even release scorecards within UPSI. I took the exam, but I don’t know my marks or normalization marks.”

Whenever the paper is held in different shifts, they adopt the normalization process. They don›t even tell which normalization formula they used. The UP RPF, the police... the Uttar Pradesh Police, have a recruitment board, sir. There is no one to fix this accountability. We tried everything. I went to the public court, submitted memorandums to their cabinet ministers. Instead, they arrested me and put me in jail.

Student Avinash said, “My name is Avinash. I must be one of these students because I can tell you, sir, that I prepared for the teacher recruitment exam in 2018. I’ve been preparing for it since 2018... Why? The government has vacant positions, yet they’re not filling them.”

“This is the government’s arbitrary action. If the government wants to ensure that vacancies continue to be filled properly, what are we saying? We’re just making a few demands. From 2018 to today, we’ve held numerous protests and submitted numerous memorandums. The second issue is that since 2022, I’ve been preparing for the UP TET through the UP Triple SC Commission. I’ve been preparing since 2022, and the recruitments... Even today, I’m saying on record that at least 9 to 10 vacancies haven’t been cleared, and there are many more for which we’ve faced lathi charge , submitted memorandums, and met with people to understand our pain and suffering. But to this day, this hasn’t reached the government. Many of our brothers and sisters are suffering from this pain.

Student Ajay Raghav said, “Sir, these paper leaks are ongoing in Uttar Pradesh. Since the Honorable Yogi Adityanath government came to power, I can count them on my fingers, Sir... The 2017 Sub Inspector recruitment paper leak, followed by the 2018 UP Constable paper leak, followed by the 2020-21 UPSI recruitment paper leak, the 2022 Lekhpal recruitment paper leak, and the 2023 RO/ARO... also a paper leak, and the 2023 Constable recruitment paper leak. And this scorecard normalization scam is currently ongoing. Sir, I want to thank you very much for continuously raising the voice of the youth, and I, Sir, look to you with hope. Continue raising the voice of the youth in this way. We are completely with you. All these students seen here are with you ... they have come only for you, Sir.”

Student Himanshu Kumar said, “Sir, I mean, my mother got me my B.Ed. by selling land. There hasn’t been a vacancy in four years. Sir, when I’m going to protest, I mean, Samrat Chaudhary’s goons, the police... they beat us with sticks and send us to jail. Sir, when we protest, we get detained. After that, I mean, some brothers are sent to jail. After that, I mean, when we qualify for the state seat... I mean I am State Qualified, CTET Qualified, PGT, B.Ed... still there has been no vacancy for four years Sir. When I mean agitation... I have been studying in Patna for four, five, six years... I am a farmer’s son Sir. The monthly expenses are 10 to 15,000 rupees Sir. From where will my mother give it? Now my mother gets tensed. I have two options Sir - either I will open a tea stall or I will commit suicide Sir, other than that I have no other option Sir. Shri Rahul Gandhi said – Suicide cannot be your option, brother.

Student Himanshu “I have PGT, B.Ed… after qualifying so many state CTETs, you won’t even get a job of Rs. 20,000, sir, in the whole of India!”