Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will meet protesting students of FTII in Pune
Rahul Gandhi's pep-talk to protesting students of the Film and Television Institute of India or FTII today featured a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP.
"The nature of the discussion is - you agree with us then fine...if not, we will smash you. To shut people up they call you anti-national, anti-Hindu," he told the students, who have been on strike for nearly two months over the appointment of TV actor Gajendra Singh as the chairman of the institute's governing council.
Interacting with the students in an auditorium at the Pune-based institute, the Congress vice president said: "Only the PM decides in the BJP, only one man has power. If the PM wants somebody, the BJP can't remove them."
Also referring to the BJP's ideological mentor RSS or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, he said: "The RSS and its ideologues are systematically promoting mediocre people in the system...they are hell bent on undermining the educational institutions' stature...it is not going on just in the education system but also in bureaucratic and judicial system."
Dressed in a tee-shirt and jeans and leaning against the stage, the 44-year-old took questions and also asked many of them.
"This will make a really nice movie - how the entire might of the Indian government was trying to push 250 students aside," he remarked to a hall-full of film students.
The students have boycotted classes for weeks and refused to return unless the central government cancels the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan, who is seen as close to the ruling BJP. Several alumni and film personalities say Mr Chauhan's stature falls far short of the standards of the famous institute.
"This is not just about FTII. It is happening in a lot of higher education and cultural institutions," one student told Mr Gandhi, who nodded in agreement.
"I am ready to fight with you," replied the Congress leader.
The BJP has accused the Congress of trying to whip up politics over the film institute protests. "If students see Gajendra Chauhan as a politician, then is Rahul a filmmaker?" scoffed actor-politician Paresh Rawal.