A stampede-like situation was witnessed after about 800 persons turned up for walk-in interviews held by a firm for 40 vacancies in Ankleshwar in Gujarat’s Bharuch district, an official has said.

Videos of a massive queue, marked by pushing and shoving as aspirants tried to get a toehold on a ramp leading to the entrance of a hotel where the interview was being held, went viral on Thursday on social media.

The railing of the ramp finally collapsed, leading to several job-seekers falling off, though no one was injured.

The incident, which took place on Tuesday, triggered a verbal duel between the opposition Congress and the ruling BJP.

While the Congress said it had exposed the “Gujarat model” (of development that the ruling party talks about), the BJP said the former was trying to defame the state through the video.

“As per our information, a company arranged walk-in interviews for nearly 40 vacancies in five different roles. The company booked a hall in a hotel in Ankleshwar expecting some 150 candidates. However, 800 turned up and company officials had to shut the door of the interview hall to control the crowd, which led to the situation shown in the video,” Bharuch Superintendent of Police Mayur Chavda said on Thursday.

No one was injured in the melee and no complaint has come to the police in this regard, Chavda added.

Tagging the video in a post on X, the opposition Congress said, “Gujarat model of Narendra Modi. A huge crowd of unemployed people gathered for a hotel job in Bharuch, Gujarat. The situation became such that the railing of the hotel broke and the Gujarat model was exposed. Narendra Modi is imposing this model of unemployment on the entire country.”

Hitting back, the BJP said on X, “Efforts to defame Gujarat are being made through a viral video from Ankleshwar. The advertisement for the walk-in interview clearly states they require experienced candidates. This implies those attending the interview are already employed elsewhere. Therefore, the notion of these individuals being unemployed is baseless.” Spreading negativity about Gujarat was a tactic of the Congress, the BJP added.

As per the advertisement, the company was to fill vacancies of shift in-charge, plant operator, supervisor-CDS, fitter-mechanical and executive-ETP at its new plant in the Jhagadia industrial area.

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