Anger among youth over unemployment reason for PM’s job mela, says Siddaramaiah

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “hurriedly” holding a job mela, wondering if it was a response to the rising anger among the youth over unemployment.

The CM, in a series of posts on X, suggested that though the PM confidently said the BJP would win 400 Lok Sabha seats, he was bogged down by worries over increasing joblessness among the youth, aggravated after the 2016 demonetisation.

As the Congress prepares to face the upcoming parliamentary polls in Karnataka where it holds just one out of 28 seats, Siddaramaiah has stepped up his attacks on the PM, and the BJP, seeking to corner them over denial of fair share of the central devolution of taxes to the State, among others.


On Tuesday, Siddaramaiah sought to question the PM on the Centre’s record on jobs. Quoting official figures, he said the unemployment rate had peaked in the past 45 years, many times higher than what it was in 2011-12, when the UPA was in power at the Centre. He blamed the demonetisation for increased joblessness as the decision, he added, had led to closure of several industries, he said.

PM Modi, he said, had pledged to add crores of jobs 10 years ago, but was seeking to add them in lakhs and claiming credit for it. “Where are the crores of jobs that he promised?” Siddaramaiah asked. He sought to know the nature of jobs being offered at the PM's job mela: whether they were permanent in nature or part-time jobs? He also sought to know if the government was following the reservation norms while making the proposed recruitments.

When the UPA was in power, the government was giving 7.5 million jobs every year, but the same dropped to 2.3 million after 2013. Two unemployed youths were taking their lives every hour, unable to bear the distress, he said, attributing the data to the national crime records bureau.