 A very special guest with us today, Mr. Rahul Gandhi, the president of Indian National Congress. Thank you very much for speaking to Tirangha TV, Mr. Gandhi. Thank you for coming. I just wanted to start this interview by asking you, you've been touring the length and the breadth of the country, five phases of elections are over, where is Congress party placed, what is your assessment as far as elections are going? We are very well placed, we are doing very well. The main issues in the election, unemployment, massive unemployment, 45 years, highest rates of unemployment, 27,000 youngsters losing jobs every 24 hours, that's very big. That's a lot of pain in people. Questions about Mr. Narendra Modi not being able to do anything about it. Farmers really struggling, farmer suicides all across the country, that's a second pain point. Third pain point, of course, is Raphael and the whole Chaukidar issue, which is very big. And then the overall attack on our institutions, on our economy. What is Congress party's vision? How do you intend to address the issue of unemployment, the address of the agrarian crisis, if you come to power? We had a conversation with the people of India. All different stakeholders, farmers, youngsters, laborers, women, and we developed our manifesto. Mr. Narendra Modi did with demonetization, basically destroyed demand, sucked money out of the economy. We put money back into the economy and we jumpstart the system. Very simple logic, Narendra Modi pulled money out. When he pulled money out, people stopped buying, lost purchasing capacity. When they stopped buying, shops stopped selling. When shops stopped selling, factories stopped producing, factories stopped producing, youngsters got unemployed. Now we are going to inject money into the system. You are saying it's doable because BJP says it's not... Let me, let me, let me answer. So we are going to inject money into the system. Money will go in, people will start purchasing stuff, people will start purchasing, shops will start selling, shops will start selling, factories will start producing. We will hit unemployment. So we are, we realize and recognize that we are in a financial emergency. We are in similar terrain as the 90s. And India needs to now take sharp, well thought out, strategic decisions. Nya is one such example. Another very powerful thing, we've, we've said to the youngsters, we want you to be part of this nation building. We want you to be the ones to help us create jobs. Today, if you want to open your own business, you have to take permissions from every government department, go there, spend months of your time getting permission. We put in our manifesto, no permission required for three years. Forget all the permissions. Get to work, start a business, get the business rolling. Three years later, once you're done, come back and say, well, I've started a business. It's a successful business. I've created 50, 60, 100 jobs for India. Now I'm going to take permission. So we've got a whole set of ideas. We're going to be spending significantly more money in healthcare, public healthcare and public education. And we're going to create a lot of government jobs in those areas. 22, 22 lakh government jobs are lying vacant. We're needed. We're going to fill those jobs. So the point I'm trying to make to you is we have a strategy. And the strategy comes from conversation. The strategy comes from a great deal of thinking that the Congress Party has done over the last six, seven months. The Prime Minister doesn't have a strategy. When you ask the Prime Minister, tell us about how you're going to create jobs in India. They say that jobs have been created in an irregular sector. That's why you don't have a data. The single biggest, the single biggest disaster. And you can ask any shopkeeper, any small and medium business owner, the single biggest disaster in the informal economy ever created in Indian history was demonetization. Millions and millions of jobs decimated. That's not a strategy for job creation. That's a strategy for job destruction. The narrative which is seeming to be dominating the discourse, the political discourse this time around. One is of Rashwad and the other is of Rafale. Prime Minister is... Look at this. Chokhidar! Chokhidar! Chokhidar! Chokhidar! Chokhidar! That's the narrative that's dominating. The narrative that's dominating is the fact that Narendra Modi has stolen from the country. Narendra Modi has taken 30,000 crores and given them to Anil Ambani, a crony capitalist. But Prime Minister is talking about nationalism. He is saying that Congress party has been inefficient in dealing with national security issues. Is the highest unemployment rate, not a national problem, is stealing money from the air force, 30,000 crores, which the French president has said that Narendra Modi told him to give the contract to Anil Ambani. Is that not a national security problem? This is the fact that the Prime Minister has systematically, systematically weakened India's strategic position, not a national security... Are you saying that Prime Minister is talking about nationalism because he wants to divert attention from other issues? I understand the Prime Minister's situation. And frankly, I have sympathy for him. I have compassion for him. He promised certain things. He came with a lot of hope and he couldn't deliver them. He promised jobs, couldn't deliver. He promised reform and agriculture, couldn't deliver. He promised fight against corruption, actually became a symbol of corruption. So I understand his angst and his fear and his discomfort. But the fact of the matter is the Prime Minister is making excuses. He is doing the same thing he did in the Gujarat election, which is getting into a sea plane and trying to fly out. He's not going to escape. We have surrounded the Prime Minister. We have attacked the Prime Minister on issues and we have basically dismantled the concept of Mr. Narendra Modi. Today, Mr. Narendra Modi is a shadow, is a shadow of what he wants. You know, you've always been talking about spreading love. You've given that Jhappi to Prime Minister in the parliament. Today, Prime Minister spoke on that particular issue. He's saying that he's unable to understand your dictionary of love. Sometimes you call him Hitler. You call him Ghaddafi. I've never called the Prime Minister. No, no, no. The Communist Party calls him. I have never, I have never, I have never called him Ghaddafi. Please check all my speeches. I speak with great respect of the Prime Minister. I call him Mr. Prime Minister. I call him Modi Ji. I speak respectfully of him. The fact of the matter is that unfortunately the Chokidar has stolen. And the Chokidar has, is a chore. Now, what do you want me to say? Do you want me to come out with another word for it? Give me another word, give me a more polite word. For thief, I'll use it. The fact of the matter is that I don't have animosity hatred towards the Prime Minister. In fact, for me, when I gave that hug to the Prime Minister, it was a genuine sign of affection. He abused my father. He abuses my family, just recently abused my father. I wrote him a perfectly lovely tweet saying, Narendra Modi Ji, all my love and affection for you. You know, the political discourse has really gone very bitter, Mr. Gandhi, this time around. Prime Minister has been making. Not from my side. You know, Arun Jaitley said that even you are calling Prime Minister a chore and elected Prime Minister, you're calling a chore, so it's like both ways. That's what Jaitley says. But the Prime Minister, but the Prime Minister has stolen. The Defence Ministry, officers in the Defence Ministry have said that the Prime Minister has carried out a parallel negotiation with Raphael. It's on paper Defence Ministry files. They've agreed, the governments agree that they are Defence Ministry files. Parikar has said that I don't know anything about this people. The French President has said, the Indian Prime Minister told me that Anil Ambani should be given the contract. Now, the Prime Minister has stolen. What do you want me to call him? Give me another word. Let Arun Jaitley give me another word for thief. I'll use it. However, please notice that I am always being loving towards the Prime Minister. I am not being nasty to the Prime Minister. I have affection for the Prime Minister. I hugged the Prime Minister in Lok Sabha. I sent him another hug on Twitter. And I have no animosity towards him. You've talked a couple of issues. You've talked about unemployment. You've talked about the gradient crisis. And you're also, when you're addressing these rallies, you're also talking about Raphael. How to respond to Chokidal. What is the issue that is resonating more with the electorate? What is your assessment? Jobs, number one. Number two, corruption and farmers. The fact that what the people believe Narendra Modi was has turned out to be a lie. Narendra Modi has turned out to be a hot air balloon, which has nothing in it. It has no substance. It has no depth. And so there is a disappointment. I think we need to go... Two more issues, Mr. Gandhi. You know, Priyanka Gandhi, Wadra's entry into politics. Has it made a big difference as far as Congress is fortunate? 2019 Lok Sabha elections are concerned. You've always said that she's an asset to the party. What difference has she made? Well, I will not be able to comment on the difference she has made, but certainly she has her heart in the right space. And, ideologically, she is a very, very strong Congress person. And I'm sure that she's going to contribute tremendously to the politics of Congress. And the kind of hype that has been created around that she'll be fighting from Varanasi and then eventually that didn't happen? No, one second. I was very clear in interview after interview that I will keep you in suspense. Nowhere did I say Priyanka is going to fight the Varanasi election. That was an invention of the press. And my mind was, Priyanka, I had to do from day one. And that was discussed between me and my system. Any strategy that Mr. Gandhi has in his mind, if numbers are neither with NDA nor UPA, any plan B that you'll be blocking, any back channel calls? I don't make, I don't second guess the great Indian people. The great Indian people will decide on the 23rd what they want. And then I will work according to their wishes.