Kejriwal’s U-turn: from inflated claims of providing 10 lakh jobs in Delhi to ‘unemployment crisis will be top priority’

Aam Aadmi Party shifts focus to unemployment crisis ahead of Delhi election, highlighting job issues in poll rallies.

The Aam Aadmi Party’s narrative on the critical issue of jobs has undergone a drastic transformation ahead of the Delhi Assembly election, with the party releasing a video message on Thursday about the serious unemployment problem in Delhi and highlighting the crisis in poll rallies all week. This is the same party, however, that has spent the last few years claiming that “we know how to give employment” and “we have given 10 lakh jobs in Delhi”, promoting its record in poll campaigns across multiple States, including in Punjab in 2022.

In the nine poll rallies he has addressed this week, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal said the unemployment crisis would be his “topmost” priority if the party comes back to power in the capital. “This time, my biggest focus will be on jobs, employment. Our children do not have jobs. Our children are educated, but are sitting at home,” Mr. Kejriwal said at an election rally in Patparganj on Wednesday night.

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“I have been going around a lot in Delhi and wherever I’m going, people are saying the same thing: ‘Please give us jobs, please give us jobs.’ I have put my entire team to plan how to give employment to every youth,” he added. “This will be my topmost priority.”

The AAP’s earlier claims of giving 10 lakh or even 12 lakh jobs in Delhi have been missing from Mr. Kejriwal’s poll speeches so far, except for a brief mention in a short video message on Thursday. Party insiders say they are highlighting the issues due to feedback from the ground that unemployment is an important issue in people’s minds.

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In 2022, the AAP government in Delhi had named its annual Budget as the ‘Rozgar Budget’, using the Hindi word for employment, and promised to create 20 lakh jobs over the next five years. Almost all the projects announced under the Rozgar Budget remain non-starters, including a job portal called Rozgar Bazaar 2.0, which was supposed to provide 25% of the promised 20 lakh jobs.