As assembly elections to Rajasthan’s 200-member assembly draw near, the state is witnessing a keen contest between the ruling Congress government and the opposition BJP.
Last month, during a rally in chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s Sardarpura constituency in Jodhpur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the Congress government saying that the “paper leak mafia” has ruined the future of lakhs of youth in Rajasthan, news agency PTI reported.
Meanwhile, last week, Gehlot lambasted the Central govt after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the premises of Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra in Jaipur and Sikar as part of a probe into a money-laundering case related to exam paper leak. On 26 October, Gehlot’s son Vaibhav was summoned by the ED in a foreign exchange violation case.
Reacting to this, Gehlot told reporters at a press conference, "Raids have happened (before too) but Congress won the elections. The situation is worrisome. They have unleashed terror in the country."
Asserting that the “Congress will not be scared no matter how hard they try,” Gehlot claimed that the BJP was targeting him through ED raids as the party could not topple his government, Mint reported.
Rajasthan – where at least 12 recruitment exams have reportedly been cancelled since 2018 due to paper leaks – has over 18.4 lakh unemployed youth in the state.
Before the state goes to poll on 25 November, let’s take a look at how Rajasthan fares on the scale of joblessness: