Rahul Gandhi, Kharge identify unemployment, inflation as key problems

Cong picked Nagpur to mark its foundation day and launch its LS campaign, 'Hum Tayyar Hain', given the city's salience in shaping the ideological contours of the last hundred years of Indian politics

On its 139th foundation day, the Congress on Thursday launched its campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Nagpur, with party leader Rahul Gandhi reiterating the promise of a caste census, identifying unemployment as a critical problem facing youths and accusing the Narendra Modi government of pushing millions into poverty and benefitting a handful of billionaires.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said inflation was eating into people’s savings, and a Congress government at the Centre would roll out its Nyaya scheme to provide Rs 60,000-70,000 each year to poor households.

The Congress picked Nagpur to mark its foundation day and launch its Lok Sabha campaign, “Hum Tayyar Hain”, given the city’s salience in shaping the ideological contours of the last hundred years of Indian politics. Gandhi and Kharge underlined that the Congress and its allies in the INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) bloc of parties were not merely fighting to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but faced an ideological battle against its parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The RSS headquarter is in Nagpur. Kharge said Nagpur is also a holy site since B R Ambedkar and lakhs of his followers embraced Buddhism in the city. He said Mahatma Gandhi spent over seven years in nearby Wardha fighting for India’s independence.

Rahul Gandhi recounted his recent conversation with a former Congress Member of Parliament currently in the BJP to state that his party was democratic while the BJP wasn’t. “Unlike the BJP, a Congress worker can question and disagree with top party leaders,” he said.

The former Congress chief, scheduled to embark on the Bharat Nyaya Yatra a fortnight hence, flagged the unemployment facing the country’s youth. “How many jobs has the Modi government provided to the people in the last 10 years?” he asked, pointing out that the Congress started the Green Revolution, White Revolution and Information Technology Revolution. The leitmotif of the 6,200 km yatra will be promising economic, social and political justice to the people of the country and highlighting the livelihood issues that the people faced.

Gandhi said the country’s youth didn’t have gainful employment and spent seven to eight hours of their day scrolling Facebook and Instagram. He accused the BJP government at the Centre of denying jobs to 150,000 men already selected for the Indian Air Force and Indian Army by introducing the Agniveer Scheme. In his speech, Kharge said the party has received a jolt in the Hindi heartland states in the recent Assembly polls but will fight back.

The southern states, two of which (Karnataka and Telangana) are ruled by the Congress, and Maharashtra are crucial for the party’s Lok Sabha prospects. The Congress believes it can improve its 2019 tally of 52 seats as the public sentiment favours it in Maharashtra and southern Indian states, unlike the Hindi heartland.