Creation of jobs is one of the biggest hurdles that India faces, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said to a small gathering of students at Princeton University in New Jersey on Sept. 20, adding that the Congress-led government failed to do much about the issue.
He, however, added that the current Bharatiya Janata Party-led government is also failing to address the concern. “They were angry with us because we could not deliver on our promises, and they will get angry again,” he was quoted as saying. “The Congress party was unable to provide them job and now Modi is failing to provide them jobs.”
Gandhi also noted that there was a lot of “synergy’ between India and the United States. “Historically, India has maintained balance (in relationship). So India has had a relationship with China and has had a relationship with Russia,” he said. “It has had a relationship with the US and both the countries. To me the strategic relationship with the United States is important.”
He also talked about how the world will be fundamentally reshaped by performance of India and China, saying the two huge countries are transforming from being agricultural nations to urban modern model countries.
LIVE: Congress VP Rahul Gandhi in conversation at @Princeton, Sept 20, 2017 https://t.co/25KHXJVfeO
— Congress (@INCIndia) September 19, 2017
Gandhi also came down on the BJP government’s Make in India initiative, saying that while he believed it is a good idea, its targeting is not quite right. The Member of Parliament from Amethi also criticized the government for not spending enough on education and healthcare.
The interaction at Princeton University was unlike the discussion he had at Berkley last week, where he spoke of dynasty politics in India, the current government’s economic policy and the politics of polarization. His address at Berkeley drew a lot of ire from BJP leaders and on social media. While Union Minister Smriti Irani called him a “failed dynast”, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju tweeted that Gandhi was tarnishing India’s image abroad after his party plundered the nation.
The BJP can’t claim Rahul is irrelevant if they feel the need to field senior Cabinet Ministers to counter what he said in Berkeley. https://t.co/XglAQavbZC
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) September 12, 2017
Gandhi is on his two-week tour in the United States. Next on his itinerary is an outreach program at New York’s Times Square where he will interact with NRIs. In Washington, he will address a gathering of members of the Center for American Progress. He is also set to talk to business leaders at a program organized by the US-India Business Council about the current global economic situations, technological issues, and their impact on India.