LS polls: IYC to focus on unemployment, inflation in campaign, says Srinivas BV

New Delhi: The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) will raise issues such as unemployment, inflation, violence, and corruption in its campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, its president Srinivas BV said on Wednesday.

In an interview with PTI, Srinivas said the IYC manifesto will primarily focus on the issue of unemployment and that their campaign this time will be different than the last two Lok Sabha elections.

He added that the youth wing of the Congress will also introspect on what went wrong in their previous election campaigns and incorporate changes in their poll strategy accordingly.

"This time, our campaign will revolve around four main issues -- unemployment, inflation, hate and violence, and corruption. We aim to focus primarily on the issue of unemployment," Srinivas told PTI.

"We will share ideas as to how the problem of unemployment can be eradicated from the country and how the Congress will provide relief to the youth by introducing better skill development programmes and policies if voted to power," he said.

"We also intend to introspect what went wrong in our previous poll campaigns and accordingly, we will incorporate some changes in our strategy," he added.

During the previous national executive meeting of the IYC held on January 11 and January 12, an initiative called 'Rozgaar Do, Nyay Do' (Give employment, give justice) was launched by senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

The Congress' youth wing has been holding numerous election campaign programmes such as 'Youth Jodo, Booth Jodo', 'Youth Connect Programme', and 'One Booth Five Youth', among several others.

Srinivas further said the IYC members aim to pay special focus on first-time voters and also strengthen the youth wing's social media campaigning ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

"There are a large number of first-time voters in this election, approximately 12 crore of them. We have started a campaign to reach out to each one of them. We will also prioritise our social media campaign this time. A lot of fake news is being circulated by right-wing media cell groups and we will keep up our efforts to debunk them," the IYC president said.

Srinivas also stated that the Congress' youth wing has formed teams across the country who have been conducting surveys and providing inputs on the key issues in their respective areas.

"A large number of youth are joining the ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra because of our campaigns. We have been reaching out to the youth at not just the district or block levels but even at the booth level. We have been holding public meetings alongside," he said.

"Our teams have been identifying the groups of unemployed youth so that we can reach out to them," he added.

The IYC chief said Rahul Gandhi received several suggestions and memorandums from the youth during the 'Bharat Jodo' yatras, which the Youth Congress will refer to while chalking their manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls.