Voice of youth will trump jhooth ki goonj: PM's swipe at Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the voice and aspirations of India’s youth would prevail over 'jhooth ki goonj' (echo of lies), in a swipe at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' student outreach campaign.

Addressing a ‘NaMo for Viksit Bharat’ event in Gujarat's Vadodara, PM Modi said those trying to mislead people could be found “at every street corner”, but asserted that India’s youth would march ahead guided by truth.

“You will find people at every street corner trying to mislead you with 'jhooth ki goonj' (echo of lies). But the youth of India move forward driven by the resounding call of truth; they march with that call and strive for it.”

The Prime Minister’s remarks came as he launched and dedicated a series of development projects in Gujarat, including the final three sections of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC), using the infrastructure project to contrast what he described as the work culture of his government with that of previous administrations.

The three WDFC sections – New Sanand (N)-New Makarpura, New Umbergaon-New Saphale and New Saphale-New JNPT – cover 326 km and were developed at a cost of more than Rs 20,700 crore. They were among projects worth more than Rs 35,000 crore that Modi inaugurated, dedicated or laid the foundation stones for during his Gujarat visit.

Calling the freight corridor a “historic achievement for the 21st century”, PM Modi said its completion reflected the transformation in India’s work culture over the past 12 years.

PM SLAMS OPPOSITION OVER WDFC COMPLETION

PM Modi said the freight corridor was first mooted in 2004 and a special company was formed in 2006 to execute it, but alleged that it made little progress until the BJP came to power in 2014. “Yet, until 2014, the files merely shuttled back and forth; they were just travelling from one table to another. And look at the irony – even these files did not get the benefit of a dedicated corridor,” he said, in a dig at the Opposition.

He also revived his 'naraz fufa ji' (angry uncle) jibe at Opposition leaders questioning the utility of the government’s infrastructure push.

Referring to a double-stack container train operating between the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Navi Mumbai and Vadodara, PM Modi said a single trip carried cargo equivalent to more than 250 trucks. “One naraz fufa ji will be crying out, ‘What will the truck drivers do?’ Uncle ji now has work,” he said.

PM MODI'S AI PITCH

From infrastructure to Artificial Intelligence, PM Modi said his government’s focus was on preparing India’s younger generation for the economy of the future. “We want our young generation to be prepared for the age of AI,” he said, adding that AI skills would not be limited to the IT sector.

Young people with expertise in different fields, he said, could use AI to develop healthcare solutions, improve productivity in manufacturing and launch robotics startups.

“It is essential that we have young people who understand and can use AI for the industries of India and the world. The government is going to launch a major campaign in this direction,” he said.

PM Modi also linked the government’s push for rooftop solar to employment opportunities for young people. He said 5.5 million families across the country had installed solar plants, including 1.1 million families in Gujarat.

“So many families here have become electricity producers; this has created employment opportunities for countless young people, spanning everything from production to installation and service, and has brought in numerous new vendors,” he said.

Pitching India’s manufacturing push, the Prime Minister said the country was scripting a new chapter spanning “chips to ships”, with domestic supply chains being developed to strengthen self-reliance.

He said India had developed domestic capacity of more than 200 GW for manufacturing photovoltaic modules, which he linked to the expansion of the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana.

The Prime Minister also took a swipe at the previous UPA government while highlighting India’s rail manufacturing capacity. “Since 2014, India has manufactured around 50,000 modern rail coaches. The previous government couldn't even build 50,000 toilets in 10 years,” he said.

PM Modi further said the government was working to build an electricity ecosystem for emerging sectors such as chips, data centres and AI, while securing uranium and critical and rare earth minerals.

“All this effort is being made day and night to secure the future of the nation's youth – to secure your future,” he said.

PM MODI TO VISIT MUMBAI NEXT

PM Modi will next visit Mumbai after wrapping up his engagements in Vadodara. He is set to inaugurate and participate in the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2026 in India's financial capital. The seventh edition of the GFF is being held from September 8 to 11.

Since 2020, the annual conference has emerged as an international thought-leadership platform bringing together policymakers, regulators, central banks, financial institutions, fintech companies, technology firms, investors, academia and other global stakeholders to discuss the future of finance.

The theme of GFF 2026 is “Potential to Impact: Agentic AI, Tokenisation, Quantum - Trusted, Connected, Global Systems for Inclusive Finance.”