Taking swipe at the BJP over its alleged mishandling of the security breach of Parliament, Rahul Gandhi said here on Friday that all its MPs ran after when two youth stormed into the Lok Sabha on December 13.

Reiterating his stand on the issue, the Congress MP from Kerala’s Wayanad parliamentary constituency said “unemployment” was the reason behind the action of the youth. He slammed the BJP-led government at the Centre for its “failure” to address the issue.

Speaking at a ‘Save Democracy’ protest at Jantar Mantar organised as part of the nationwide protests called by the INDIA bloc against the suspension of MPs in Parliament, Gandhi recalled how two youth entered into the House (Lok Sabha) by jumping (from the visitor’s gallery) and released smoke (from canisters).

He said, “All the BJP MPs ran away. They are those who call themselves patriots… ‘Hawa nikal gayi unki…’ (Their bravado had gone into the thin air…). We saw it all.”

The Congress leader asked how they could come inside along with the gas canisters without being noticed and get away with the act of vandalism. “How did they come inside? How did they bring the cylinders (canisters)? How did the security breach happen? If they can bring that they could have brought anything else.

“The question is why did they protest? What was their motive?” Gandhi asked before answering himself, “Unemployment!”

Pointing out that there is an acute unemployment in the country under the Modi government, the MP said the highlight of the entire episode is that “today’s youths cannot get employment, hence the frustration.”

Citing a survey that revealed that the youths spend 7.5 hours every day on phones, he asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not given them employment. “The media didn’t talk about unemployment in the country. But it did discuss about how MPs were sitting outside Parliament, and Rahul Gandhi shot a video. They did not discuss about the suspension of 150 MPs from Parliament.”

Explaining the stand of the Opposition, he said, “We told Amit Shah ‘being home minister you own an answer to the question how the two youths entered Parliament’. They have thrown 150 people out of Parliament. The media do not talk about unemployment, it just distract,” said Gandhi.

The former Congress president said the MPs who were suspended are not just individuals but the voices of the people of India. The BJP Government has not only insulted the MPs but silenced the people of the country.”

Accusing the saffron party of spreading hatred, Gandhi said, “The fight is between hatred and love. We are opening a shop of love in the market of hatred. The more BJP spreads hatred the more INDIA will spread love.”