The Congress on Tuesday hoped the Narendra Modi government would keep its focus on the economy and unemployment instead of diverting people’s attention with emotive issues after home minister Amit Shah asked Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren to step down for failing to create jobs.

Asked about Shah’s attack on the Jharkhand government with respect to unemployment, Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh said: “Good to see Amit Shah discussing unemployment. Will he ask the Haryana chief minister to resign as the unemployment rate is the highest in that state? Haryana, an industrial state, was the growth engine of India but has been constantly topping the unemployment chart for several years now.”

According to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, the unemployment rate in Haryana is 37.4 per cent against the national average of 8 per cent.

The unemployment rate in Jharkhand is 18 per cent.

Asking the BJP to keep the focus of the national discourse on real issues, Vallabh said: “Which state was called Silicon Valley of India? Karnataka. What has the BJP turned the state into? Bangalore should be discussing artificial intelligence, 3D printing, etc, but is embroiled in hijab, burqa, who eats what, who wears what.”

Vallabh added: “And the BJP leader there says there is no need to discuss roads, jobs, high prices, etc. He asked the people to focus on religion.”

Karnataka BJP chief Nalin Kateel recently said he had advised cadres not to discuss small issues like roads and drains and focus on love jihad if they want to save their children.

Vallabh said: “I request the Prime Minister to dedicate one of his upcoming Mann Ki Baat addresses to one of these issues — why are 604 Indians relinquishing Indian citizenship every day, a jump from 354 in 2014? Why is India placed at the 107th position out of 121 countries on the Global Hunger Index? Why is India described as one of the most dangerous countries for media professionals; why is the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) saying the maximum number of people fell below poverty line during Covid in India?”

Highlighting distressing facts about the economy, Vallabh asked if 80 crore people needing the support of 5kg ration every month was indicative of “Amrit Kaal”.

Insisting that the abnormal jump in people leaving India was caused by low GDP growth, which was a result of demonetisation and a flawed GST, he said: “Figures by the ministry of external affairs suggest that 1,83,741 people renounced their Indian citizenship in the first 10 months of 2022, which amounts to 604 people leaving India every day. Why are Indians moving out in the pursuit of acchhe din?”

Pointing out that the majority of the people leaving India are high net-worth individuals, Vallabh said around 7,000 of those who gave up Indian citizenship in 2022 had an annual income of more than Rs 8 crore.