PM Modi, Raje betrayed jobless youths: Congress

Congress leader Randeep Surjewala Monday accused the BJP governments at the Centre and in Rajasthan of "betraying" the jobless youths of the country and the state.

The Congress chief spokesperson also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ordered the labour department to stop releasing employment figures to "cover its failures".

"After coming to power, the BJP government at the Centre promised to generate two crore jobs annually in the country, while in Rajasthan, 15 lakh jobs were promised in five years," Surjewala said at a press conference here in the poll-bound state.

But the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments betrayed jobless youngsters. People of the country and the state are feeling deceived and cheated, Surjewala said.

The Congress leader further said that in Rajasthan, which goes to polls on December 7, the unemployment rate was double that of the national average and the state ranked fourth in the unemployment index.

"The prime minister asks youths to fry pakodas and sell pan, while the chief minister calls protesting jobless youths 'lafangas'. What is the future of the youth of this country?," he said.

Surjewala alleged that the state government was providing bogus figure of providing over 44 lakh jobs in five years.

He said of the total 1.50 lakh state government jobs, notifications for 1.10 lakh were released by the previous Congress government.

Citing a report of Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), Surjewala said Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje had no right to remain in office due to her alleged involvement in the employment scam in the state government's skill training programmes.