Siddaramaiah targets BJP over jobs, questions Modi’s ‘two crore jobs’ promise

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday intensified his attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party over unemployment , questioning the Centre’s record on job creation and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s repeated reference to generating “two crore jobs every year.”

Addressing reporters, Siddaramaiah asked whether the promise had translated into measurable outcomes over the past decade. The “two crore jobs” figure, prominently mentioned during the BJP’s 2014 national campaign, has since remained a key benchmark used by the opposition to assess the Centre’s employment performance.

The Union government, however, points to official labour data to defend its record. According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey , the unemployment rate declined from about 6 percent in 2017-18 to nearly 3.2 percent in 2023-24 under the usual status measure. Government data also indicates that total employment rose from roughly 47.5 crore to over 64 crore during this period, reflecting a net increase of more than 16 crore jobs over six years. The Centre has also introduced the Employment Linked Incentive scheme to encourage fresh hiring through financial support to employers and first time employees.

Critics argue that while aggregate numbers show improvement, concerns remain over job quality, underemployment, and youth absorption into the labour market.

In Karnataka, the immediate trigger for the political exchange has been protests over government vacancies. Job aspirant groups have alleged that nearly 2.84 lakh posts remain vacant across departments such as education, health, and police. The school education department accounts for a significant share of unfilled teaching positions.

Siddaramaiah has maintained that many of these vacancies existed before the Congress assumed office in May 2023, blaming the previous BJP government in the state for delays. He said recruitment was slowed due to issues related to internal reservation among Scheduled Castes , but asserted that his administration has already filled thousands of posts and will soon issue notifications for 56,000 to 60,000 positions . Further announcements are expected in the upcoming state Budget , with phased recruitment planned once legal and procedural hurdles are cleared.

The BJP has countered by accusing the Congress government of failing to honour its own pre-election assurances to fill over two lakh vacancies. It argues that fiscal pressures arising from welfare guarantees have constrained large scale hiring and insists that both the Centre and previous state governments undertook recruitment drives in key sectors.

With both sides citing competing data, employment has emerged as a key political flashpoint in Karnataka, as job aspirants demand clear timelines and faster appointments on the ground.