The Congress on Monday (August 24, 2026) targeted the Narendra Modi government over unemployment and price rise, with party president Mallikarjun Kharge accusing the government of “completely ravaging” young India’s entire pathway from education to employment.
Mr. Kharge cited a recent NITI Aayog report estimating that 8.7 crore Indians aged 15 to 29 years are neither studying, working or receiving training. Youth unemployment stood at 15.6%, rising to 19.5% among young women, he said, citing the Periodic Labour Force Survey for July 2026.
Mr. Kharge alleged that lakhs of government posts remained vacant, while secure employment was increasingly being replaced by contractual and part-time work. The Congress also attacked the government over the rising prices of essential commodities. The government’s buffer stock was empty, he claimed, adding that the rising prices of milk, oil, fruits, and other essential commodities were adding to the burden on households.
“You, Modi ji , promised to achieve what previous governments could not do in 70 years! The party’s communications chief Jairam Ramesh cited a media report on a sharp rise in onion prices, saying prices in Nashik had increased by around 76% in a month, while wholesale rates had doubled in some States.
“Expensive and inadequate education, paper leaks, delayed recruitment, a widening skills gap, and disappearing quality jobs have put the future of an entire generation at risk,” Mr. Kharge said. You have certainly delivered on that boast: an Education system that costs more, infested with RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), examinations young Indians cannot trust, and degrees that increasingly come without jobs,” the Congress chief said. “After sugar, now onions too are slipping out of the common man’s reach,” Mr. Ramesh said on X. “The Modi government, which claims to have ushered in achche din (good days), should explain how the poor and middle class were expected to make ends meet,” Mr.
