Growing Inequality, Unemployment Demon-Like Challenges: RSS’ latest rhetoric to cover BJP ahead of elections
With the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) facing heat over a range of public issues including inflation and growing unemployment ahead of the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pitched in to cool down the tempers earlier this week.
Addressing a webinar, the RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale concern over rising financial inequality and unemployment and said rising inequality and unemployment have emerged as a “demon-like challenge” so is the poverty.
“It is important that we eliminate these demons,” he said.
He sought to give hope to people facing the brunt of hike in the GST amid inflation, asserting that Prime MInister Narendra Modi government is taking steps to bring relief to the citizens.
Hosabale listed various initiatives taken by the BJP-led Centre which, he said. would help bring relief to people, in an apparent bid to defending Narendra Modi government amid opposition parties allegation that the prime minister’s “pro-capitalist” economic policies have taken country twenty five years backwards in terms of its progress and economic growth.
He also put the blame for the prevailing scenario in the country on “faulty” economic policies of the previous governments for the “ills” in the India’s economy.
Hosabale was addressing a webinar organised by the RSS affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) on Sunday
India may have become world’s sixth largest economy with a GDP of USD 3.1 trillion but majority of its population are struggling to meet their ends. The continuous job losses and inflation have only further worsened their condition.
The RSS leader stressed the need to create self-employment opportunities for the people to address the problem of unemployment, with Modi government failing to generate sustainable employment and livelihood opportunities for the people.
His suggestion came at a time when the small and medium scale industries are battling for their survival in absence of any financial support from the government. The condition of small traders and retailers are worst due to inflation.
“We should be sad that 20 crore people are below the poverty line. And 23 crore people are earning less than Rs 375 per day. Poverty is a demon-like challenge in front of us,” Hosabale said.
The BJP is drawing flak over a range of vexed issues including growing inequality due to inflation and growing unemployment in the country in the run up to assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
The Congress and other opposition parties are raising pitch against these issues affecting the lives of common people, pushing the Modi government and the BJP on the back foot.
For the BJP, winning the Gujarat elections is a matter of prestige, not just because it has been ruling the state for the last 27 years but also because Prime Minister Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah come from the state.
An aggressive poll campaign by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) under the leadership of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Gujarat, meanwhile, is posing a threat to the poll prospects of the BJP.
Political observers are not sure of the poll prospects of the AAP but they unanimous on the possibility of the Arvind Kejriwal led party significantly cutting the urban votes of the BJP which has helped it retain power in the state since 1995.
Though the main opposition Congress is surprisingly not so aggressively campaigning in the poll bound Gujarat, its leader Rahul Gandhi has opened a front against the BJP.
Having embarked on a first-of-its-kind ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra” organised by the Congress, the great grandson of India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru is highlighting the Modi regime’s failures on multiple fronts.
Working in tandem with most of the opposition parties in the country, Gandhi is making an all out effort to bring the people’s attention to issues like price rise, unemployment, hike in taxes and crony capitalism during Modi regime.
Addressing the webinar, Hosabale highlighted the Modi government’s commitment towards making India a self-reliant country and cited various initiatives taken towards it including Jan Dhan scheme and “digital revolution”.
He, however, suggested that problems like risingunemployment, inequality and poverty can not be addresed just by the roll out of the Centre sponsored schemes.
The state governments and civil society too will have to pitch in and contribute to addressing the issues, he suggested.
“We not only need all-India schemes, but also local schemes for generating employment,” Hosabale said.
The RSS leader noted that there are four crore unemployed people in the country–2.22 crore in rural areas and 1.8 crore in urban areas.
“Labour force survey pegs the unemployment rate at 7.6 per cent,” he underlined.
Talking about growing inequality, Hosabale wondered if it is a good situation in the country where half of its population have just 13 percent of the total income despite India being one of the top six economies.
The RSS leader, however, did not offer a concrete advice to bridge the gap.
“India is among the top six economies of the world. Top one percent of India’s population has one fifth of the nation’s income. And at the same time, the country’s 50 per cent population gets only 13 per cent of the total income,” Hosabale said, wondering, “Is this a good situation?”
The RSS leader suggested that steps should be taken to revive the cottage industries and skill development sector be given a push to make people living in rural areas employable but did not mention why the Modi government’s schemes and programmes rolled out for the two sectors are not yielding the desired results.
He stressed the need to create employment at the rural level and said the SJM has launched a campaign, titled, “Swavalambi Bharat Abhiyan” for this.
The SJM will try to take “new initiatives” in agriculture and allied sectors, as well as skill development and marketing sectors at the village level through the campaign, he said but did not give details on how it will achieve the stated objectives.