Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday hit back at Narendra Modi after the prime minister accused the Congress of indulging in “dynastic politics”. Sibal said Modi would not have become the prime minister without the support of the Sangh Parivar, reported PTI.

“What is the prime minister talking about?” asked Sibal. “No one in the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] can occupy any public position without the support of the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]. The Sangh Parivar is the biggest parivar in the world. Without their blessings no one can hold any public position in the country, be it the position of a prime minister, a minister, governor or chief ministers.”

Sibal said the prime minister should focus on matters confronting the people of the country rather than talking about dynastic politics. “Is the prime minister so busy in the campaign that he has forgotten all about the people of India? He’s only worried about dynasty,” said Sibal.

Earlier in the day, Narendra Modi in a blog post said that the country had voted for honesty over dynasty and development over vote-bank politics in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The prime minister asked people to vote wisely in the Lok Sabha elections. The seven-phased polls will be held between April 11 and May 19, with the votes to be counted on May 23.

“As you go to vote – remember the past and how one family’s desire for power cost the nation so greatly,” Modi said. “If they could do it then, they can surely do it now. Eternal vigilance remains the price of liberty. Let us stay vigilant and work hard to strengthen the intuitions given to us by the makers of our Constitution.”

Congress accuses ‘chowkidar’ Modi of stealing jobs

The Congress on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of stealing jobs instead of generating employment. The Congress’ allegations come after a media report claimed that the actual size of India’s male workforce has decreased for the first time since 1993-’94.

“Modiji has eaten up 4.7 crore jobs of the youth,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala. “Due to the BJP’s “pan-pakoda’’ policy, 4.7 crore youth had to wash their hands of their jobs. Promise was to give 10 crore jobs, but 4.7 crore jobs have been taken away. The country’s chowkidar is responsible for stealing jobs.”

Former human resource development minister Kapil Sibal also alleged that several jobs were lost since Modi came to power, reported PTI. He cited data from the National Sample Survey Office to claim that the male workforce in the country had decreased from 30.4 crore in 2011-’12 to 28.6 crore in 2017-’18.