Haryana Congress candidates promise ‘1 job for 50 votes, happy relatives’. ‘Parchi-parmeshwar’, says BJP

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Haryana Congress candidates promise ‘1 job for 50 votes, happy relatives’. ‘Parchi-parmeshwar’, says BJP

The BJP has been posting videos of Congress leaders from the state unit’s X handle, telling people how the main opposition party in Haryana was offering jobs on recommendations rather than merit. Even Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini has posted from his official X account, taking the dig at the Congress on the issue.

The jobs controversy erupted after Congress MLA Neeraj Sharma, who is seeking re-election from Faridabad NIT, promised one job for every 50 votes he gets in an election where unemployment has emerged as a key issue.

“If you send me back victorious, I’ll get a quota of 2,000 jobs and for every 50 votes, there will be one job. This concept of merit is beyond our people’s comprehension,” Sharma told his supporters at a public gathering.

As his comments blew up, Sharma defended himself saying that with a little over 1 crore people casting their votes in the election and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda announcing 2 lakh jobs, “it is but natural that one after every 50 voters will get a job”.

“My statement has unnecessarily been twisted by the BJP to create a fake narrative,” he added.

When contacted, former chief minister Bhupinder Hooda told ThePrint the Congress has already promised 2 lakh jobs to unemployed youth in Haryana and the party candidates were reiterating this promise. He accused the BJP of trying to twist the statements of Congress candidates by posting “incomplete videos”.

Jyoti Mishra, a researcher at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), told ThePrint that unemployment is a critical issue that could heavily influence voter behaviour in the upcoming state elections.

“The Congress, despite emphasising job creation, faces attacks from the BJP accusing it of reverting to the politics of favouritism, which could dampen the effectiveness of its unemployment narrative among some voters,” Mishra said.

Also read: Why Congress’s most prominent Dalit face in Haryana Kumari Selja is staying away from poll campaign

‘Parchi-parmeshwar‘ 

Sharma wasn’t the only one in the line of fire for his controversial comments on the jobs issue. Congress leaders have found themselves under attack from the BJP for a series of statements on jobs which the ruling party said suggested a “parchi-parmeshwar” (recommendation) system to demand quotas and secure shares in government jobs.

Former MLA and Congress candidate from Assandh Shamsher Gogi also sparked controversy after a video of him promising to “take care of our own” at a public meeting went viral.

“Everyone will get a share in the government, and we’ll make sure our relatives are happy too. We’ll also settle those who come from outside in the brotherhood. We’ll first take care of our own. Therefore, winning the election is crucial for forming the government,” Gogi said.

The Congress distanced itself from these statements, saying they were made in a personal capacity, but that didn’t stop the BJP from grabbing the opportunity to train its guns on the opposition.

CM Saini posted a video on his X handle with a comment saying, “The second promise of the Congress manifesto. First, fill your own pockets, and if anything is left, then do something for the people.”

The BJP’s “parchi-parmeshwar” dig came after a video of Haryana Congress Committee state president Udai Bhan, promising 5,000 jobs to the youth, went viral. Udai Bhan is seeking re-election from his traditional Hodal assembly constituency.

“Our government will come to power, and Udai Bhan will be at the centre of it. We will provide at least 5,000 people with government jobs. This is our promise,” Udai Bhan says in the video.

The Haryana BJP shared this video from its official handle. The post said: “It seems like there’s a race among the participants in the “parchi-parmeshwar” system to demand quotas and secure shares in government jobs. The state president of the Congress party is saying that he will give jobs to 5,000 youths based on parchi (recommendations) and will only provide jobs to his own people. As for the educated youth of the rest of Haryana, they can go fend for themselves.”

The BJP further said its government has provided jobs to unemployed youths without “kharchi or parchi” (without bribes or recommendations) during the past 10 years.

It also also slammed the Congress candidate from Ganaur, Kuldeep Sharma, and his son, Chanakya Pandit, for their remarks on government jobs.

Chanakya Pandit—an advocate in the Punjab and Haryana High Court who was an aspirant for a Congress ticket for Lok Sabha polls—found himself under attack after a video surfaced with him saying he would take job applications to Congress veteran Hooda, seen as the face of the party in the election.

“I’ll give you my number, and you just bring your roll number to me. I’ll take your application to Chaudhary Bhupinder Hooda,” he said at a public address.

CM Saini posted Chanakya’s video from his X handle with a comment, “Exposing Hooda’s way of working and the Congress culture… Under Hooda’s leadership in Haryana, Congress is no longer just a party, it has become a business. Pay the price, and get a job. This is an insult to the hardworking youth of Haryana, to the dreams of the poor, and to the pride of Haryana.”

Udai Bhan couldn’t be reached for comment. Chanakya Pandit said though he wasn’t a candidate, he was committed to ensuring access of people of his father’s constituency to the government.

“The BJP government’s claims of jobs without bribe or recommendations are a sham and it is proved by the number of petitions against recruitments pending before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. NEET is such a sacrosanct entrance exam that it is considered equal to the UPSC examination. But during the BJP rule, even the NEET examination was leaked,” said Pandit.

CM Saini also attacked the Congress after Kuldeep Sharma told a gathering that Hooda was bringing 2 lakh government jobs, and “whatever your share is, we’ll give 20-25 percent more than that”.

Saini responded by posting Sharma’s video from his official X handle with the comment, “Congress’s motto… Stole before, will steal again, distributed jobs through bribes and recommendations before, will distribute them again.”

Hooda said the BJP didn’t provide any permanent jobs during the 10 years of its term but kept recruiting people on a contractual basis through the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam.

“We have announced to fill all vacancies and provide 2 lakh jobs to youths strictly on the basis of their merit. The BJP has been trying to give a twist to the statements of Congress candidates by posting incomplete videos,” he added.

CSDS’s Mishra, quoted earlier, said the political parties were aware of the importance of the unemployment issue and were crafting their campaigns to address these concerns, with youth voters being particularly impacted by these promises.

She added that the focus on unemployment stemmed from its prominence in the Lok Sabha elections, where it was a key concern among voters in Haryana.

According to a Lokniti-CSDS NES poll after the election, 26 percent of voters were dissatisfied with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s inability to generate jobs and 40 percent of voters were unwilling to give the BJP-led NDA government another term largely due to this issue, she said.

“Across the board, candidates are promising to create jobs and address the employment crisis that has gripped the state. Party candidates are focusing on this at the local level, tailoring their messages to ensure that their voters feel these promises are realistic and achievable within their constituencies,” Mishra added.

(Edited by Sugita Katyal)

Also read: Independents to ‘silent’ heavyweights, how rebels may disrupt BJP & Congress’s poll prospects in Haryana

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