Latching onto Union minister Nitin Gadkari's "where are the jobs" remark over Maratha quota stir, the Congress on Monday said the comment is an "endorsement" of its claim that the Modi government had "failed" in creating jobs.
Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi where were the jobs the latter had promised to in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
"What we have been saying from last 4 years on the failure of Modi Govt in Job creation, is now being endorsed by Mr Nitin Gadkari, Modiji nation wants to know #WhereAreTheJobs which you promised," Chavan said on Twitter.
Gadkari, while responding to reporters' questions in Aurangabad on Saturday, on the ongoing agitation by Marathas for reservation and similar demands by other communities in Maharashtra, had said, "Let's us assume the reservation is given. But there are no jobs."
"Because in banks, the jobs have shrunk because of IT. The government recruitment is frozen. Where are the jobs?" he had asked.
Gadkari had also said that there was a "school of thought" which wants policy-makers to consider the poorest of poor in every community.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi latched onto the remark made by the senior BJP leader today and said, "Excellent question Gadkari Ji. Every Indian is asking the same question."
The Congress was attacking the government, alleging that it had "failed" to provide jobs as promised by it before coming to power.
The politically-influential Maratha community, constituting around 30 per cent of Maharashtra's population, has been agitating to press their demand for reservation in jobs and education.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam has attacked the BJP-led NDA governments in Maharashtra and at the Centre over the Maratha reservation issue.
He said Union minister Nitin Gadkari's remark is "contradictory" to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' assurance yesterday that the statutory obligations pertaining to the Maratha quota will be completed by November-end this year.
"On one hand, Fadnavis announces that all the Constitutional obligations will be completed by November-end while on the other hand, a Union minister (Gadkari) of the BJP is questioning the rationale behind this entire idea (of granting reservation by questioning the availability of government jobs)," Nirupam stated in a release today.
He alleged the BJP is operating in a "self-contradictory" mode on the issue and is trying to "hide" something "desperately".
"In their manifesto for 2014 polls, the BJP had promised to create two crore jobs per year. At a time when approximately 30,000 youngsters are joining the job market every day, the government is providing jobs to only 450 of them. Where are the remaining youngsters supposed to go? What alternative the government has provided to the job aspirants?" he questioned.
The Congress leader said the government has been "apathetic" to the cause of the Marathas.
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