New Delhi, Sep 23: Firing a fresh salvo at the Centre, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday claimed that the country’s youth are being ‘pushed to darkness’ because of the ‘unprecedented’ rise in unemployment levels under the current dispensation.

Taking to X, the Congress leader slammed the Modi government for ‘failing’ to address high unemployment among the youth and also linked it to vote fraud and ‘vote chori’.

“The biggest problem for youth in India is unemployment – and it is directly linked to vote theft,” he wrote in the post on X.

He said that whenever any government comes to power by winning the trust of people, its first duty is to provide employment and opportunities to the youth and accused the BJP of having scant regard for this.

“BJP does not win elections honestly – they stay in power by stealing votes and holding institutions captive. That’s why unemployment has reached its highest level in 45 years,” Rahul Gandhi alleged.

He further claimed that jobs are declining, recruitment processes have collapsed, and the youth’s future is being pushed into darkness.

Stepping up the attack further, he said that the government was prioritising businessmen and billionaires over the youth and said this has dashed the latter’s hopes.

While levelling these charges, he also shared a video comprising multiple incidents of lathi charge by policemen on the protesting students.

He said that the youth of the nation was now realising that they must fight the vote theft as this is the ‘real’ challenge before them.

“As long as elections continue to be stolen, unemployment and corruption will also keep increasing. Now, the youth will neither tolerate the looting of jobs nor the theft of votes,” he said, seeking to evoke public support.

“Freeing India from unemployment and vote theft is now the greatest patriotism,” he said on a concluding note.

Rahul Gandhi’s fresh assertions and drawing a link between unemployment and vote theft assume significance as they seek to galvanise the support of unemployed youths ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections.

Congress has already upped the ante on ‘vote chori’ claims ahead of state elections. Rahul held his second presser on electoral malpractices recently and also warned of ‘big disclosures’ under the imminent hydrogen bomb threat.

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday questioned the maintainability of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a city based lawyer seeking registration of an FIR against MNS chief Raj Thackeray for allegedly assaulting citizens for not speaking in Marathi. 

The PIL filed by advocate Ghanshyam Upadhyay has sought registration against Thackeray and his party workers for repeatedly targeting non-Marathi-speaking citizens, especially from North India. 

His advocate, Subhash Jha, argued that the political party often targeted non-Marathi-speaking citizens before the elections. Citing a Supreme Court judgement, Jha submitted that the apex court has clearly said that the state must ensure that violence by political parties and workers do not take place and the same should be  dealt with iron hands. 

He said that they have written to the Election Commission of India and State Election Commission to de-recognize the political party. “We have given instances. These are not solitary instances, but they are rampant. Especially when elections are round the corner,” Jha said, adding that the civic elections would be held. 

A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad remarked that the affected persons could approach the court. “Why a Public Interest Litigation (PIL)?” the bench asked. 

To this Jha replied that it affected a large number of people. “It affects a large number of people. How can anyone be targeted for their language?” he said. 

On a court query, Jha said that they had sent complaints to the deputy Inspector General of police, commissioner of police. The bench then said they would have to hear the issue in detail, as it has questioned the maintainability of the PIL. 

Earlier, Upadhyay had filed a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking the withdrawal of recognition granted to MNS, alleging that the party routinely engages in acts that threaten national unity. The PIL highlighted a rally held on July 5, where Thackeray allegedly incited violence by suggesting that those who do not speak Marathi should be “hit below their eardrums”. He also reportedly mocked Hindi-speaking states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Rajasthan, saying, “If Hindi couldn’t solve the economic problems of those states, how will its imposition solve Maharashtra’s issues?” 

The apex court had, however, asked Upadhyay to approach the high court with his grievance. 

Hence, he filed the PIL in HC. It will now come for hearing in due course of time.

Mumbai, Sep 23: The Indian benchmark indices opened with mild gains on Tuesday amid positive global cues, as buying was seen in auto, IT and financial service sectors in the early trade.

As of 9.22 am, Sensex was trading 122.13 points or 0.15 per cent up at 82,282.10 while the Nifty added 35.85 point or 0.14 per cent at 25,238.20

Nifty Bank was down 26.30 points or 0.05 per cent at 55,258.45. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 58,686.55 after dropping 12.95 points or 0.02 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 18,293.15 after gaining 4.25 points or 0.02 per cent.

According to experts, for the Nifty index, the resumption of near-term uptrend will depend on whether the slippages stretch beyond the 25200-25000 region or not.

Early moves may retain a positive bias if above 25238, but it would require a direct rise above 25278/335 region to attract momentum, they added.

Meanwhile, in the Sensex pack, Maruti Suzuki, M&M, Tata Motors, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra and Axis Bank were the top gainers. On the other hand, Ultratech Cement, Sun Pharma, Trent and Asian Paints were the top losers.

In the Asian markets, Jakarta, Bangkok, Japan and Seoul were trading in green, while Hong Kong and China were trading in red.

In the last trading session, Dow Jones in the US closed at 46,381.54, up 66.27 points, or 0.14 per cent. The S&P 500 ended with a gain of 29.39 points, or 0.44 per cent, at 6,693.75 and the Nasdaq closed at 22,788.98, up 157.50 points, or 0.70 per cent.

According to analysts, the major drag on the market since the 2024 September peak is the sustained FII selling, which, in turn, is being triggered by the high valuations in India and attractive valuations elsewhere.

FIIs sold equity worth Rs 121,210 crore in 2024 and this year, they have sold equity for Rs 179,200 crore so far through the exchanges, they said.

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers as they sold equities worth Rs 2,910.09 crore on September 22, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 2,582.63 crore.