Maharashtra Assembly Election 2019: Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for unemployment and said that his Moon Mission will not feed the youth of the country. He said that the youth were in trouble but the government was asking them to look at the Moon.

“Youth are in trouble…they think nothing is left now. But they (government) say – look at the Moon, India has sent a rocket. It’s a good thing. The ISRO was established by Congress. Rocket did not go (to the Moon) in two days. It took years, but Narendra Modi is obviously taking its benefit. But sending rockets to the Moon will not feed the youth of India,” Rahul Gandhi said while speaking at a rally in Maharashtra.

The former Congress chief was referring to ISRO’s ambitious Moon Mission — Chandrayaan 2, which was to land on the lunar surface. However, the space agency lost contact with lander Vikram moments before the scheduled touchdown. Prime Minister Modi was also present at the ISRO control center to witness the historic moment.

The Congress leader said that the unemployment rate has gone to highest in the last 45 years but the government was trying to divert the attention by raising other issues. He said that Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah were conveniently silent on the issues that were plaguing the country. “Ask anyone about Pune’s automobile factories, the diamond industry in Gujarat, leather industry, everyone will say that Narendra Modi ruined them,” Gandhi said.

For the last few quarters, the Indian economy is facing a serious slowdown and the opposition leader has blamed the government for taking decisions such as demonetisation and GST. “At one point, the economy was our strength. Other countries respected the strength of our economy but now the situation has changed. Demonetisation and GST have made the economy worse,” he said. The former Congress chief further claimed that all industries have collapsed, but Prime Minister Modi will not say a word about it.