Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that rising unemployment and inflation, brought about by the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, were behind the security breach in Parliament earlier this week.

“Why did it [the security breach] happen? The biggest issue in this country is unemployment, which is boiling over in the entire country. India’s youths are unable to find employment because of Modiji’s policies,” Gandhi told reporters after an election strategy meeting with leaders of the Congress’s Gujarat unit.

In a major security lapse on December 13, two men walked through three layers of security with smoke canisters concealed in their shoes, vaulted into the Lok Sabha from the visitors’ gallery, and set off smoke inside the chambers. Of the six suspects, family members of two — Neelam Singh and Amol Shinde — have said that they were in distress due to unemployment.

In a separate post on X (formerly Twitter), Gandhi asked: “Where are the jobs? The youths are desperate. We have to focus on this issue and give jobs to the youth. There has definitely been a security lapse, but the reason behind it is the country’s biggest issue – unemployment.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, hit back at Gandhi.

“Rahul Gandhi never disappoints; always talks trash. For the record, unemployment in India is at 3.2%, the lowest in six years. Instead, Rahul Gandhi and I.N.D.I Alliance leaders must explain the close linkages of those involved in the Parliament breach with Congress, TMC, and CPI(M). Rahul Gandhi, in particular, must clarify his association with Asim Sarode, who was part of Bharat Jodo Yatra and has offered to provide legal aide to the intruders,” BJP IT in charge Amit Malviya said in a post on X.

Five individuals have been arrested in connection with the incident, and the Delhi Police are on the lookout for an alleged sixth conspirator. All of them have been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The six do not seem to have any common links, except that they met through a FaceBook page called the ‘Bhagat Singh Fan Club’.

The accused have reportedly told the police that they wanted to highlight issues like unemployment and the violence in Manipur and ensure that they were discussed in Parliament. They also wanted to speak to PM Modi.

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has also linked the security breach to unemployment. “Unemployment is a significant issue. The fact that unemployed youth are driven to such desperate acts on the day Parliament was attacked by terrorists is something all politicians, and particularly PM Narendra Modi, must deliberate upon,” he wrote on X.