Modi devastated economy: Rahul on peak unemployment

New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) The Congress on Thursday came out all guns blazing against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over India's unemployment rate hitting a 45-year high in 2017-18.

Calling Modi "Fuhrer" (a tyrannical leader), Congress President Rahul Gandhi said his job creation promise was a disaster and it was time for the Modi government's tenure to end.

"The Fuhrer promised us 2 crore jobs a year. 5 years later, his leaked job-creation report card reveals a national disaster. Unemployment is at its highest in 45 years; 6.5 crore youth are jobless in 2017-18 alone. Time for NoMo2Go (Modi to go)," tweeted Gandhi.

He also made fun of Modi's "Hows the Josh" slogan with "Hows the Jobs".

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala attributed the high unemployment rate as the reason why the Modi government was keeping the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) report under wraps.

"Unemployment rate is at a 45-year-high. This is why the NSSO Report was kept under the wraps.

"This is why members of NSC (National Statistical Commission) resigned. Promise of two crore jobs turned out to be a cruel joke!

"India does not want a government that has left the future of our youth in jeopardy," said Surjewala.

The party tweeted: "In just five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has devastated the economy and driven unemployment to a 45-year-high. The youth of India have one question for you Modiji."

A Business Standard report, citing data collated under the NSSO, a report that has been withheld by the government, said that India's unemployment rate was at a 45-year-high of 6.1 per cent in 2017-18.