BJP tried to 'steal popular mandate' in J'khand but was stopped: Rahul

The BJP tried to destabilise the Jharkhand government elected by the people but the INDIA bloc stood up against its "conspiracy" and did not let it "steal the popular mandate", Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Friday as his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered the eastern state.

Gandhi was accorded a warm welcome here with newly appointed Chief Minister Champai Soren also present on the occasion.

Addressing the gathering, Gandhi alleged the BJP has "money power and probe agencies" but he and the Congress are not scared of them and will keep on fighting against the ruling party's "divisive ideology".

The former Congress president said that while the earlier Bharat Jodo Yatra was against the "divisive agenda" of the RSS and the BJP, the current yatra is seeking justice for the people of the country.

The BJP once again tried to steal and destabilise a government which had been elected by the people of Jharkhand, Gandhi said.

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) stood up against the BJP's "conspiracy" and did not let it "steal the popular mandate", he said.

There is widespread injustice prevailing across the country, including "back-breaking price rise and increasing unemployment". It is impossible for the youth to get employment in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's India, he added.

Later, sharing a video of his remarks on X, Gandhi said, "Narendra Modi's policies are a guarantee of unemployment. The youth cannot get employment in the India he is building."

In his remarks at a flag handover ceremony marking the yatra's entry into Jharkhand from West Bengal, Gandhi blamed the Modi government's demonetisation policy and "flawed GST" implementation for "destruction of small and medium industries" which he said are the backbone of employment generation in the country.

The rate of unemployment in the country right now is the highest in the last 40 years, he claimed.

Inviting the people of Jharkhand to participate in the Nyay Yatra, Gandhi said he would listen to their concerns.

"We listen to your Mann Ki Baat and not do our Mann Ki Baat," he said.

This Nyay Yatra is for seeking economic and social justice, and justice for farmers, the youth and other marginalised people, the former Congress president said.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "Picture of the day: @RahulGandhi with the newly sworn-in CM of Jharkhand, Shri Champai Soren ji, in Pakur at the flag handover ceremony of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Champai Soren ji is popularly known as the Tiger of Jharkhand for his remarkable role in the public agitiation for the creation of a separate state."

"The horse-traders in Delhi please take note -- ?the land of Dharti Aba Bhagwan Birsa Munda will resist and defeat your politics of injustice," he said.

Champai Soren, who was sworn-in as the chief minister of Jharkhand earlier on Friday, also addressed the public meeting and assured full support to the Nyay Yatra.

JMM executive president Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday night in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land fraud after he resigned as the Jharkhand chief minister.

The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra will be in Jharkhand for eight days in two phases and cover 13 districts.