The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has criticized the BJP-JJP coalition within Haryana due to unemployment issues. Specifically, they have plans to protest at Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s residence in Karnal, accusing him and his government of failing to provide employment to the state’s youth. According to AAP’s Haryana unit president Sushil Gupta, over 200,000 job opportunities in various government departments remain unfulfilled.

An assessment of the vacant positions reveals that 71,000 are within education, 21,000 in the police sector, and 10,000 in the transport department. Gupta alleges the government is not taking action to fill these positions. He argues that this lack of employment opportunity is leading many young individuals towards depression, drug use, and illicit activities related to seeking out employment abroad.

Furthermore, Gupta accuses the Khattar government of other unethical behaviors, such as leaking job papers and harboring rampant corruption. He adds that the inability of the government to provide employment is such that they have sent 10,000 youths to work in a war-torn Israel as laborers, which he calls shameful. Finally, he contributes an increase in youth suicides in 2021-2022 — 3,783 youths, to be precise — as directly related to the high rates of unemployment.

The AAP has committed to supporting the youth of the state and will be leading a demonstration on February 7th at the Chief Minister’s residence in Karnal. It is also worth noting, in response to a query, Gupta stated that AAP is set to challenge all 90 assembly seats independently in Haryana. Decisions about whether to run alliance or independent campaigns in the Lok Sabha elections will be decided by party leadership.