Unemployment has taken centre stage in the upcoming Delhi assembly elections with political parties focusing on aspirations of the youth . The Aam Aadmi Party has made job creation its core promise with party convenor Arvind Kejriwal declaring employment creation as the top priority for next five years .
“Generating jobs and employment will be top priority for the next five years”, said Kejriwal. “Along with improving education, healthcare, electricity, water, roads, metro, and sewer systems, we will also eliminate unemployment from Delhi”.
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The former CM said what pains him the most is seeing educated youth sitting idle and falling into bad company for lack of jobs.
“One thing deeply pains me. Our children, despite being educated, are sitting at home, searching for jobs. Some of these children, at times, fall into bad company. Once they fall into bad company, they end up getting involved in criminal activities. Today, families are suffering and are deeply distressed due to unemployment.”
Making an emotional appeal, Kejriwal assured, “We feel the pain of your problems and are working on solving them. We will work together to tackle this issue.”
The former chief minister said he cannot do this alone, nor can his team. “With the cooperation of Delhi’s two crore residents, just as we have achieved historic progress in other fields, I am confident that we will eliminate unemployment from Delhi in the next five years. I need your support and blessings for this mission.”
He emphasised his party's past achievements of creating 12 lakh jobs during the pandemic. Additionally, he cited the success of the AAP in Punjab, claiming 48,000 jobs were created within two years .
“In Punjab, within just two years, we provided 48,000 govt jobs and facilitated employment for 3 lakh youths in the private sector”, said Kejriwal.
The AAP is trying to build its campaign around unemployment to connect with the youth. They are presenting themselves as a party that can create jobs, something that the BJP has faced criticism from the Opposition .
The rising unemployment rate in the country leading to increasing dissatisfaction among the youth is a concern that may be echoed by the major chunk of Delhi’s electorate. This promise of AAP is most likely to attract the attention of the youth.
Adding employment to its already existing promises of subsidies and healthcare, the AAP has revamped its campaign game as the elections come close. This may well see the BJP and the Congress trying to counter this narrative by putting forward their employment-improving agenda. The AAP has been ruling Delhi for two consecutive terms and is hoping for their third as well but this time it is facing a challenge by the BJP which is trying to woo the electorate with its development agenda.
