Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not even talk about unemployment, leave alone providing solutions, which was the primary cause of rising anger and unrest among India’s youth.

The Congress leader tweeted: “Unemployment, price rise and social disharmony are the main issues before the country today. These are causing anger and unrest among the youth, which in itself is becoming a grave problem. Leave alone providing solutions, the Prime Minister doesn’t even talk about these issues.”

Rahul and the Congress have been drawing attention to unemployment acquiring dreadful proportions for the past few years but the Modi government has refused to acknowledge the crisis.

The latest data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy suggest the unemployment rate is 8.1 per cent, with 53 million people without jobs. The unemployment rate had peaked to 11.84 per cent in May 2021 while it hovered around 4 per cent in 2013-14 when Manmohan Singh relinquished office.

Addressing election rallies in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the parties that thrived on caste and communal politics were not serious about creating jobs and solving people’s problems because they flourished by taking the easy route of exploiting emotions.

“There are 12 lakh vacancies in the government but the BJP chose not to fill them. The people are not questioning them. Unki neeyat samjhiye (Understand their intentions). Modi is doing everything for his capitalist friends; they are earning Rs 1,000 crore daily. But he is not interested in creating jobs because he knows he can win by misleading the people on emotive issues.”

Insisting that the people had committed grave mistakes by encouraging political parties by voting on caste and religion, Priyanka said: “They are not interested in empowering you. They know it is much easier to manipulate jobless, frustrated youth. They will make groups of such people to implement their sinister agenda. They won’t pay dues of Rs 14,000 crore to sugarcane farmers but the Prime Minister will buy two luxurious planes for himself for Rs 16,000 crore. Because he knows the tool to grab power is religion.”

Three top BJP leaders — Modi, Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanath — addressed election rallies in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday but none of them referred to jobs.

Addressing a rally in Jaunpur, the Prime Minister attacked the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress by describing them as “parivar-wadi and mafia-wadi”.

He talked about the need for a strong government at the Centre because of the “serious challenges before the world” (a reference to the Russia-Ukraine war).

Modi also talked about “vikas” (development) in the context of free ration, pucca houses, power connections in villages, LPG cylinder and free Covid vaccines. While there was no mention of jobs, he didn’t explain why the price of LPG cylinders had crossed Rs 1,000 apiece.

In 2014, he would promise creation of two crore jobs every year and castigate the Congress government for high prices of essential commodities, including petroleum products.

Modi has not spoken about petrol crossing Rs 100 per litre for the first time.

Chief minister Adityanath, who claimed development in Uttar Pradesh started after 2014, said at the same rally: “The SP, BSP and the Congress had sympathy for terrorists and mafia, not for farmers, youth and women.”

He also dwelt on free ration, free vaccine, toilets, 24-hour availability of electricity, and bulldozers, a reference to his action against the mafia.

Union home minister Shah, who addressed a rally at Mau, gave a clue to what the BJP meant by action against the mafia by repeatedly pointing to Ateek Ahmed, Mukhtar Ansari and Azam Khan being in jail.

He asked: “Do you want Ateek Ahmed, Mukhtar Ansari and Azam Khan out of jail? If yes, vote for SP-BSP.”

Shah didn’t make even a passing reference to jobs or price rise and kept the focus on emotive issues. He asked: “Kashmir hamara hai ya nahin? The Congress kept Article 370 in its lap like a child. We have fully integrated Kashmir with India.”

Repeating his pet dialogue — “Did anything happen for the poor in the last 70 years” — Shah also highlighted free rations and vaccines and cash to farmers without making any reference to the agrarian distress, rising prices, unemployment and social discord.