Rahul Gandhi, in US, admits Congress failed on jobs, says Narendra Modi government failing too

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi held a small interaction with college students in New York where he said that both Congress and BJP governments have failed to provide Indian youth with enough jobs.

IndiaToday.in  | Edited by Dev Goswami
New Delhi, September 20, 2017 | UPDATED 07:07 IST
Rahul Gandhi at Princeton University (Photo: Twitter/Congress)Rahul Gandhi at Princeton University (Photo: Twitter/Congress)

Highlights

  • 1
    Job creation the central challenge facing India: Rahul Gandhi
  • 2
    Congress failed to deliver on its job promises, Gandhi admitted.
  • 3
    Modi govt is failing on employment, Gandhi also said.

Creation of jobs is the biggest challenge that India faces right now, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday. The job numbers are nowhere where they should be, Gandhi said, as he admitted that previous Congress governments had failed to address the concern.

However, Gandhi added as an addendum, even the current Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party has failed to provide Indian youth with jobs.

Gandhi, who is on a tour in the United States, made this comments while addressing a small gathering of students at the Princeton University in New York. Gandhi mostly spoke about jobs and employment, unlike his previous student interaction at the University of Berkley .

There, he talked on a number of topics, including dynasty politics in India, the Modi government's economic policy, and the "politics of polarisation". Top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders came out to criticse Gandhi for his Berkley address.  

THE RISE OF MODI

Asked to explain the rise of politicians like Narendra Modi in India and Donald Trump in the United States, Gandhi said, "Why Mr Modi and Mr Trump rose is because of jobs. [A] lot of people don't have jobs and they [Modi and Trump] can see [that]."

Those who want jobs helped Modi reach where he is, Gandhi said adding that the space for Modi was creating because the Congress "was unable" to deliver on its promise to create jobs.

They were angry with us because we could not deliver on our promises, and they will get angry again, Gandhi said. 'The Congress party was unable to provide them job and now Modi is failing to provide them jobs,' Gandhi added.

Gandhi went on to link the Modi government's flagship initiative, Make in India, to jobs. The Congress vice-president said that while he believed Make in India is a good idea, it's targeting is not quite right.

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