India is not what the media shows: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has accused India's BJP government of "threatening" the people and "misusing" the country's probe agencies, and attacked the Indian media for projecting a narrative that suits the saffron party.

Speaking at an Indian diaspora event in Santa Clara, California, on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi claimed the BJP and the RSS are controlling all the instruments of politics in India, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

"The BJP is threatening people and misusing government agencies. The Bharat Jodo Yatra started because all the instruments that we needed to connect with the people were controlled by the BJP-RSS," he said.

"We were also finding that in some way, it had become quite difficult to act politically. And that's why we decided to walk from the southernmost tip of India to Srinagar," he said.

Rahul Gandhi alleged India is not what is being shown in the media which likes to promote a political narrative that is far from reality, claiming there is a "huge distortion".

"It was very clear to me in the Yatra that it's in the media's interest to project these things, it helps the BJP. So, don't think that everything you see in the media is the truth," he said.

"India is not what the media shows. The media likes to show a particular narrative. It likes to promote a political narrative that is actually not what is going on in India," he said.

The Congress leader reached California on Tuesday for a three-city US tour during which he will interact with the Indian diaspora and meet American lawmakers.