BJP "misleading" the youth in the name of Hindutva and Hindu Rashtra: Kumaraswamy

JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy said the party will focus on mobilising the youth power as part of its "mission 123 seats" to bring the party to power after the 2023 Assembly polls in Karnataka.

Bengaluru:Accusing the BJP of "misleading" the youth in the name of Hindutva and Hindu Rashtra, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday said, the focus should be rather on creating jobs and providing employment to them.

He said the JD(S) will focus on mobilising the youth power as part of its "mission 123 seats" to bring the party to power after the 2023 Assembly polls in Karnataka.

"The BJP government at the centre had promised to provide 2 crore jobs, but has created a large crisis of unemployment. The BJP government in the state has completely neglected the decision taken by the 14-months Congress-JD(S) coalition government led by me to set up industrial clusters in nine districts," Kumaraswamy said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, appointments are not happening for government jobs, and because of COVID many have lost jobs.

"BJP's main publicity is the creation of a Hindu Rashtra. They are emotionally misleading the youth of the country in the name of Hindutva. What the youth of the country and the state need today is employment, a strength to support one's family and dependents," he added.

Kumaraswamy was speaking on the sidelines of ongoing "Janata Parva 1.0", a four-day workshop for party leaders near here, aimed at bringing it to power in 2023, near here.

Noting that JD(S)' target to win 123 seats in the 2023 Assembly polls and forming the government was not just for the sake of power, the former Karnataka Chief Minister said, we want the youth of every family to be employed.

"Let's focus on eradicating unemployment and employing our youths.....let's look at shaping our lives and that of our dependents, and then think about Hindutva or Hindu Rashtra. To overcome the attempts by the BJP to mislead the people, especially youths in the name of Hindutva, JD(S) will focus on mobilising youth and women power to bring in pro-people government," he added.

Kumaraswamy has already set a target of winning at least 123 seats in 224-member assembly, during the 2023 Assembly polls.

Stating that the party wants to give priority to youth while giving tickets, he said, "I have already prepared a programme for this as part of our mission 123, and will see how they work for the people in their respective constituency."

He further said that there is good bonding among youth leaders in the party, as he declared that the party will mobilise youth power during the next 17 months in the runup to 2023 polls under the leadership of his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy (JDS youth president) and nephew Prajwal Revanna (Hassan MP).

Kumaraswamy on Wednesday had said that the party plans to field women candidates in at least 30-35 constituencies for the 2023 assembly polls.

PTI