Unemployment Imposed By BJP Biggest Issue In LS Polls: Kharge

On Sunday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the biggest issue in the Lok Sabha elections is the unemployment “imposed by the BJP”, claiming that the youth are struggling to find jobs and the country is staring at a “demographic nightmare”.

Kharge, in a post on X, said that the ‘Pehli Naukri Pakki’ guarantee under the ‘Yuva Nyay’ initiative by the Congress would open fresh avenues for career growth by removing the barriers that separate work and learning.

The Congress president claimed, “The biggest issue in these Lok Sabha elections is unemployment, imposed by the BJP. Our youth are struggling to find jobs, and we are staring at a demographic nightmare.”

Kharge cited the case of India’s premier institutes, such as IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) and IIMs (Indian Institute of Management), and said that across 12 IITs, around 30 per cent of students are not getting regular placements.

He said, “Only 20% of 21 IIMs could complete the summer placements so far. If this is the situation in IITs and IIMs, then one can imagine how the BJP has destroyed the future of our youth across the country.”

Kharge said the rate of youth unemployment under the Modi government has tripled since 2014.

In his post on X, Kharge said, “The ILO’s recent India Employment Report showed that each year, India adds around 70-80 lakh youths to the labour force, but between 2012 and 2019, there was almost ZERO growth in employment – just 0.01%!”

He added, “Modi Ki Guarantee about providing 2 crore jobs reverberates as a bad dream in the hearts and minds of our Youth!” he said. Therefore, the Congress party has brought in the ‘Pehli Naukri Pakki’ guarantee under ‘Yuva Nyay’, he added.

Kharge said that any diploma or degree holder below the age of 25 will now have the legal right to demand employment and shall be paid at least Rs 1 lakh per year. “This would remove the barriers that separate work and learning, thereby opening fresh avenues for career growth,” he added.

On 5 April, the Congress released its Lok Sabha poll manifesto, focusing on “five pillars of justice (Panch Nyay)” and 25 guarantees under those, at the Congress headquarters in Delhi in the presence of senior leader Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Kharge.

Among the promises made by the Congress in the manifesto are right to apprenticeship, a legal guarantee of a minimum support price (MSP) for crops, a Constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBC), a nationwide caste census and scrapping the Agnipath scheme for short-term military recruitment.

General elections will be held in India from 19 April 2024 to 1 June 2024 to elect 543 members of the 18th Lok Sabha. The elections will be held in seven phases and the results will be announced on 4 June 2024. This will be the largest-ever election in Indian history, surpassing the 2019 Indian general election, and will last 44 days, second only to the 1951–52 Indian general election. ‘

Approximately 960 million individuals, out of a population of 1.4 billion, are eligible to participate in the elections. The legislative assembly elections in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, and Sikkim will be held simultaneously with the general election, along with the by-elections for 35 seats among 16 states.