With a little over four months left for the Assembly election, employment and unfulfilled youth aspirations are predictably emerging as central political battlegrounds across the state.
New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath’s promise of delivering one lakh government jobs ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election has hit an unexpected PR embarrassment. And its source is none other than his own deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak, whose public suggestion that youth should drive taxis instead of chasing government jobs has landed the ruling administration in a soup.
Although Pathak made the remarks at an official event in Lucknow on September 23, they became a talking point in the state’s politics after the main opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) juxtaposed the starkly differing pitches offered by Adityanath and Pathak.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on September 28 even played a video clip at a press conference, highlighting side-by-side the contradictory statements made by the two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders regarding jobs and employment opportunities.
Pathak, an influential MLA from Lucknow, serves as virtually the number-three most powerful figure in the state government. Incidentally, when he made those comments last week, Adityanath was also on the stage.
With a little over four months left for the Assembly election, employment and unfulfilled youth aspirations are predictably emerging as central political battlegrounds across the state. Opposition parties have thrown their complete weight behind student and youth groups protesting against alleged recruitment anomalies, delayed result declarations in recruitment exams, or demanding pay hikes.
In response, the Adityanath-led state government has claimed that ever since coming to power in Uttar Pradesh in March 2017, it has successfully provided over 9.5 lakh government jobs. To offset growing youth dissatisfaction and pressure, Adityanath recently pledged to deliver an additional 1 lakh government jobs ahead of the 2027 election.
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On September 23, during the official launch of the state government’s Bharat Taxi services in Uttar Pradesh, Pathak asserted that the new cooperative initiative would ensure self-employment among local youth. “Young people in villages and cities who possess skills and wish to earn an income should drive motor vehicles,” he said during his address.
What ignited widespread taunt, however, was his explicit call asking youngsters to stop chasing conventional employment opportunities. “Naukri ke chakkar mein matt pado [Don’t get caught up in the pursuit of a job],” said Pathak. Bharat Taxi is described as India’s first cooperative-led ride-hailing platform, which was introduced by the central government earlier this year.
“Focus on running your own household. Spend the afternoon with your kids. If you work for someone else, will you even be able to sit with your children for two hours?” asked Pathak, whose comments were lampooned across social media platforms.
He went on to suggest that driving taxis would not only help youngsters secure a livelihood but would also allow them freedom to spend time with their families during afternoon breaks. “Take the last ride that’s close to your house. Spend two hours eating, resting and with your kids, and then head out again and work till 10 pm,” Pathak advised the gathering, which included Bharat Taxi service drivers.
If required, drivers could simply complete two extra trips whenever they needed additional income on any given day, he added.
Mocking Pathak’s statements, the Samajwadi Party released a video contrasting his comments against Adityanath’s explicit promise of one lakh public sector jobs ahead of the election. The party attached a biting caption stating that the engine (chief minister) and sub-engine (deputy chief minister) of the state government were colliding, much like the two engines (the state government and the Narendra Modi-led Centre) were in friction.
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Speaking to reporters on September 28, SP chief Akhilesh dismissed Adityanath’s promise of one lakh jobs as a classic example of “chamatkar hoshiyari” [clever trickery], asserting that it deliberately excluded the massive number of existing jobs and career opportunities snatched away by the current administration.
“They want a debate on the one lakh jobs. You have left the youth unemployed for ten years. You snatched away reservations. You allowed exam papers to be leaked continuously. You simply do not want to provide government jobs. You discriminated against madrasas. You discriminated against teachers,” said Yadav.
On Monday, September 28, Adityanath distributed appointment letters to 1,375 newly selected gram panchayat officers in Lucknow.
Adityanath stated that the youth of Uttar Pradesh are no longer merely job seekers but are increasingly turning into job creators through entrepreneurship. He noted that while Uttar Pradesh had just 120 startups prior to 2017, the state has now built a flourishing ecosystem boasting over 24,000 startups.
At a government function on September 19, Adityanath had provided a detailed breakdown of the jobs his administration intended to roll out in the coming months. He said that 25,000 to 30,000 young candidates are set to secure appointments through results to be announced by the Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UPSSC) over the next six months. Approximately 20,000 to 25,000 aspirants are expected to secure recruitment through the Uttar Pradesh Education Selection Commission (UPESC), where examinations for various posts are proceeding rapidly and initial results have begun releasing. The remaining results will be declared within the next three to four months, he said.
The chief minister highlighted that the official distribution of appointment letters to 15,000 to 16,000 youths across multiple government departments – based on competitive Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) examinations – was being directly synchronised with result declarations. “Those who have raised questions regarding this process will see the results for themselves in the near future,” he said.
According to him, the recruitment drive for issuing appointment letters to 36,000 youths in the Uttar Pradesh Police Force alone was moving forward smoothly, with written examinations completed and physical and medical evaluation stages currently in progress. Similarly, 41,000 to 42,000 appointments are set to be finalized in the Uttar Pradesh Home Guards, where examinations have concluded and physical and medical assessment schedules are underway.
Omar Rashid is an independent journalist.
This article went live on September twenty-eighth, two thousand twenty six, at fifty-three minutes past seven in the evening.
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