Rahul slams Centre over job crisis, political polarisation in US

Speaking to students and members of the Indian diaspora in Texas on Sunday, Gandhi also argued that the 2024 general elections ended the fear of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and reiterated his critique of the government over the alleged capture of institutions, alleged favouritism shown towards select business houses, and the administration’s ideological orientation.

“The West has an employment problem. India has an employment problem. But many countries don’t have an employment problem. China certainly doesn’t have an employment problem. Vietnam doesn’t have an employment problem…The US was the centre of global production. It then went to Korea, Japan and eventually China,” Gandhi told students at the University of Texas in Dallas.

He is on a three-day visit of the US.

Gandhi said that the West and India gave up on the idea of production and handed it to China and, instead, organised itself on the basis consumption. “You are never going to employ India using IT, using consumption. India has to think of the act of production and organising production. It is not acceptable that manufacturing will be the preserve of the Chinese..We have to reimagine how to produce in a democratic environment…if we carry down this path, you are going to see massive social problems. The polarisation of politics is because of this,” he added.

Gandhi said that India didn’t have a skills problem but a “skill respect” problem where those with skills weren’t respected, and the skills infrastructure, education system and business system weren’t connected deeply. He also said that the advent of new technologies such as artificial intelligence will take away some jobs, create new jobs, and will impact different sectors differently.

To be sure, the government of India has publicly committed itself to enhancing the share of manufacturing in the economy. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there has been a focus on increasing the “ease of doing business”, implementing a “Make in India” push and the “Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self Reliant India)” campaign, and an array of production linked incentive schemes in several sectors.

This has translated into flagship investments, particularly electronics, but the share of manufacturing as compared to services remains limited;in addition, the scale of unemployment remains huge.

While the focus of his interaction with students was the economy, Gandhi, in his address to the diaspora, also focused on politics. He spoke of India as an “Union of states” just like the US, and the need to respect diversity.

“The RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] believes India is one idea. We believe India is a multiplicity of ideas. Very much like the US, we believe everyone should be allowed to participate and given space. This is the fight. And this was crystallised in the election when millions of people understood that PM of India was attacking the Constitution of India. What I am saying to you – Union of states, respect to languages, respect to religions, respect to traditions, respect to caste — is all in the Constitution,” Gandhi said, with a copy of the Constitution in his hand.

He also said that the :fear of the BJP” had vanished. “Within minutes of the election result, nobody in India was scared of the BJP or PM…These are huge achievements of people who realised we are not going to accept an attack on the Constitution, on our religions, on our states”.

On Monday, Gandhi will speak at Georgetown University and attend a dinner organised by Indian Overseas Congress in Washington DC. On Tuesday, Gandhi will interact with reporters at the National Press Club. He is also expected to meet American officials and legislators; his aides expect that as leader of Opposition, the quality of receptions and meetings Gandhi gets will be different from what he got during his last visit to the US in the middle of 2023, when his Lok Sabha membership was suspended due to a conviction that was later stayed by the Supreme Court.

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