Pure politics: Why are all the parties talking about jobs?

New Delhi: In the general elections, the party and the opposition have tried to corner each other by raising various issues ranging from religion and caste. But, it is also being seen for the first time in this election that the issue of employment has come to the fore and all the parties have to talk about it. The youth, especially the generation voting for the first time, clearly say that now is the time to vote on the question of employment. In fact, since the intervention of young voters has increased in politics in recent years, it has become necessary for all the parties to talk about employment and bring it into their main political theme.

opportunity for the opposition
Opposition alliance INDIA has made employment its main election agenda. The alliance says that if its government is formed, the first task will be to provide 30 lakh government jobs. Most of the opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav are talking about this in every meeting. Its effect is visible on the ground also.

double benefit
The opposition is getting two benefits by talking about employment. The first advantage is that he/she has been successful in creating a second political pitch apart from nationalism or Hindutva. The second advantage is – access to the biggest vote bank i.e. the youth. In the last two general elections, BJP under the leadership of Narendra Modi had maintained its hold on young voters.

pressure on government
A senior Congress leader said that in the second term of the Modi government, most of the issues related to employment and economic issues are being raised in public forums. This issue has become more vocal after Covid. Recently, students from UP to Bihar carried out aggressive agitation regarding paper leak and jobs. In many of these cases the government had to bow down.

focus on employment
The biggest focus in the opposition campaign is on employment. About a quarter of the campaign is on jobs only. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav had said in a conversation with NBT that in the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, he/she asked for votes in the name of employment and got it. After this, for whatever period he/she remained in the government, he/she gave jobs to the people. For this reason, this time also he/she is getting the support of youth in the general elections.

PM’s answer
It is not that BJP has given a free pass to the opposition on this issue. PM Narendra Modi himself is connecting with the youth on behalf of the government and the party. In a conversation with NBT also, on the question related to employment, he/she had said, ‘Many new employment opportunities have been created in the last 10 years. Lakhs of youth have got government jobs. New employment opportunities came in the private sector. According to EPFO, 6 crore new members have joined it in the last seven years. PLFS data shows that the unemployment rate which was 6% in 2017 has now come down to 3%.

BJP’s action plan
The PM had said, ‘A report has come from SKOCH Group on how effective our micro finance policies are. This report says that 5 crore person-year jobs have been created every year in the last 10 years. Today there are more than 1.25 lakh startups in the country. A large number of employment opportunities are being created through these. We have prepared an action plan for the first 100 days of our government. To that we have added 25 more days separately for the youth. We are considering the suggestions of the youth coming from all over the country and after the results, work on it will start rapidly.

electoral advantage
Experts say that there is a difference between raising an issue and getting votes for a party on it. Unemployment was a big issue in the opinion poll of election analyst Yashwant Deshmukh’s agency. he/she says, ‘For the last few years, it has been continuously revealed that the economic issue has become serious for the common people. But, many factors are required to turn it in your favor. he/she says that the government cannot be cornered in the name of inflation or unemployment alone, rather it has to be explained as to how the ruling party is responsible for it. If there is to be a challenge on these issues, the opposition will have to come up with alternatives and vision, not just complaints.