New Delhi | Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday claimed there is no bigger issue in the country than unemployment and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi must remember that every youth, whose employment has been "snatched away" by his government, will ensure the BJP's defeat in every election.

Citing Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data, he said that despite all efforts, this government data is not able to hide the helplessness of the youth.

"There is no bigger issue in the country than unemployment. Modi ji has the biggest contribution in ruining the future of the youth. If we take a closer look at the latest data of PLFS, despite all efforts, this government data is not able to hide the helplessness of the youth," Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.

"Narendra Modi ji must answer -- Isn't youth unemployment at a frightening 10.2% in 2023-24? Instead of giving colourful slogans and doing photo ops, what did Modiji do to provide jobs to the youth?" he asked.

Is it not true that the number of women who have regular salaried jobs is now the lowest in seven years at just 15.9 per cent, Kharge asked.

"Has not the number of women engaged in unpaid labour in rural areas increased from 51.9% (2017-18) to 67.4% (2023-24), which reflects rural unemployment? Why has the Modi Government, which makes a lot of noise about the manufacturing sector, not increased employment in it in the last seven years?" the Congress president posed.

How did this figure fall from 15.85 per cent in 2017-18 to just 11.4 per cent in 2023-24, he asked.

"Modi ji, remember this... every single youth of India, whose employment has been snatched away by your government, will do only one thing -- defeat the BJP in every election," Kharge said.