BJP-RSS conspiring to weaken education, institutions: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday, December 26, 2025, claimed that the BJP-RSS combine is conspiring to weaken education and institutions, emphasizing that education needs freedom and institutions will be governed by knowledge and science, not ideology.

In a post on Facebook, Mr. Gandhi said that he recently met students of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) at Jan Sansad, who reiterated the same serious concerns that have been constantly raised by students and teachers from other educational institutions across the country.

Mr. Gandhi claimed that the students had revealed that the ISI was slowly being institutionally taken over by the RSS.

He said that ISI is not an ordinary institution, it conducts high-level research in the fields of Statistics, Mathematics, Economics, Data Science, Computer Science and policy making and produces world-class experts for the country.

“Academic Councils, which are supposed to be headed by academics, are now facing bureaucratic and ideological interference. Syllabuses and research are also controlled by the RSS ideology.

“This is not education reform but a conspiracy to weaken education and institutions so that the future of the youth is pushed into darkness and these institutions can be privatized or their assets sold off,” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said. he said.

Mr. Gandhi said in his post, “This attack is not only on institutions, but also on the country’s intellectual freedom, scientific temperament and the future of its youth. We will not allow this. Education needs freedom; institutions will be governed by knowledge and science, not ideology.”

In another post on Facebook, he said he met weavers from Bhadohi who expressed concern about the realities they face in the wake of US-imposed tariffs.

“Trump’s tariffs will turn into an economic storm and hurt millions of people,” I said after meeting Bhadohi weavers at Jan Sansad recently, but Narendra Modi is sitting silently. Today, Bhadohi weavers speak the basic truth of the same warning,” he said.

The weavers also gifted Mr. Gandhi a carpet woven by them, showing their skill, hard work and age-old art.

He said Bhadohi, once known as ‘Carpet City’, is now a victim of slander.

He said that the US anti-India tariff policy had a terrible impact on many industries of the country and the Bhadohi carpet trade was almost destroyed due to this. He added that unfortunately, the government has not taken any concrete steps, neither under foreign policy nor any national plan, to address or revitalize this sector.

“As a result, exports are falling steadily and trade is shifting towards countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal,” Mr. Gandhi said. he said.

All this, he said, is the fact that weavers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency (Varanasi) claim that they are facing ruin “because Modi has blinded them to their suffering”.

“This age-old art, the basis of their trade, India’s identity and the livelihood of millions of people, is today a victim of exploitation and government neglect. Conditions are so poor that these hard-working families do not even have access to affordable and accessible healthcare facilities.”

“These are the small industries and small businesses that I keep talking about; the ones that create jobs, strengthen the economy and move the country forward,” the Congress leader said.

Now, he said, power must be placed in the hands of these people through policies and financial cooperation so that these artisans can make India’s name shine again and strengthen the country’s economy.