"Improved number of employment opportunities in country": Civil Aviation Minister slams Rahul Gandhi over 'unemployment' remarks

"I don't know from where he gets the figures, there is good number of opportunities that are available in the country also. We need to connect them through proper skilling. It is an activity and continuous process, you can't just cut the line and say that this is happening in India. In the last 10 years, under the leadership of PM Modi, we have improved the number of employment opportunities in the country also," the Civil Aviation Minister told reporters.

"Only thing we have to take out from this is, why is he going to other countries and saying this? He should be trying to help the situation in the country. This will demean the country on a global scale," he added.

BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla said that Rahul Gandhi should be the last person advising the BJP-led government on what is the idea of India because his family and his party, after the emergency, once declared that 'India is Indira' and 'Indira is India.'

"They should first apologise for comparing India to Indira Gandhi... The family that imposed an emergency, trampled upon constitutional rights, put the opposition in jail, and changed the preamble of the constitution is advising us about the constitution...Omar Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah have promised that Article 370 will be reimposed in the valley...Before preaching to the entire world about the Constitution, he should first preach to his partners and tell us whether he is for Article 370 or for BR Ambedkar's constitution in Jammu and Kashmir," Poonawalla said.

Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Arun Sao said that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party always bring disrepute to India before the world.

"We saw this even during elections. He has been doing this continuously. Gandhi family and Congress party can't stand the country's progress, prestige and pride. Whenever India's prestige increases globally and the country goes ahead, Congress leaders can't stand it. They are doing the same today but people of the country have realised this...People of the country know very well who has a history of attacking the Constitution of India. Congress party and Congress governments, Rahul Gandhi's ancestors have attacked Constitution numerous times - he should remember this. Under the leadership of PM Modi, country's Constitution has been given the highest position and our country is going ahead as per the Constitution," Sao said.

Earlier on Sunday, Rahul Gandhi talked about issues faced by the youth due to unemployment and said that the act of production creates jobs. But India organises consumption, which is a reason for worry.

"The West has an employment problem. India has an employment problem... But many countries in the world don't have an employment problem. China certainly doesn't have an employment problem. Vietnam doesn't have an employment problem. So there are places on the planet that are not struggling with unemployment. There's a reason. If you look at the United States in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, they were the centre of global production. Anything that was made, cars, washing machines, TVs, all made in the United States. Production moved from the United States. It went to Korea, it went to Japan. Eventually, it went to China. If you look today, China is dominating global production... So what has happened? The West, America, Europe, and India have given up on the idea of production and they've handed it to China. The act of production creates jobs. What we do, what the Americans do, what the West does, is we organise consumption," he said.

Rahul Gandhi arrived in Dallas, Texas, on Sunday for his three-day US visit. The Congress MP was welcomed at the airport by Sam Pitroda, Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, and members of the Indian diaspora. (ANI)