1 crore jobs lost while Modi was busy marketing himself: Rahul

Imphal/Khumulwng: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday lacerated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP for "destroying" one crore jobs and unleashing "politics of division and hatred", insisting while these were happening the PM was busy "marketing" himself.

Addressing election rallies in Manipur capital Imphal and Khumulwng in Tripura in the Northeast, where his party's last standing citadel fell to rival BJP's ally Mizo National Front in Mizoram in November 2018, Gandhi accused the saffron party of abandoning its 'act east policy' and attacking the culture and ethos of the people of the region.

Unsparing in his assault on Modi, Gandhi also wondered whether the prime minister ever studied at a university, and alleged educational institutions were undergoing saffronisation under his watch.

Attacking Modi over alleged loss of employment opportunities, the Congress leader said the prime minister had claimed on taking over the reins of the government that two crore jobs will be created every year, but one crore jobs were lost in 2018 alone. Over 30,000 jobs were lost on an average every day, he claimed.

"In 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi destroyed one crore jobs. This is the scale of his incompetence. It is absurd and ridiculous that the PM promises giving two crore jobs," Gandhi told the well-attended rally in Imphal.

A Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) report had recently claimed 1.09 crore jobs were lost in the country in the past one year.

The Modi government is under fire from opposition parties as also allies like the Shiv Sena over alleged job loss.

"Modi has reduced the Prime Minister's Office to the status of Publicity Minister's Office as he is busy marketing himself," he earlier said during an interaction with students in Imphal, where he also accused the Centre of saffronising educational institutions.

During the interaction, he claimed nobody knew whether Modi ever went to a university.

"We still have no access to his university degree.

Nobody actually knows if he went to university or not. There is an RTI (application) in Delhi seeking PM's degree but it has not been responded to," Gandhi said, adding "the prime minister is imposing

mediocrity on a sophisticated country".

Speaking about the unrest at the Manipur University last year after students and teachers demanded removal of the then vice chancellor AP Pandey over his alleged "anti-academic activities", Gandhi said he was happy that the people of Manipur succeeded in forcing him out.