A stampede-like situation in Gujarat's Bharuch district on Thursday, where about 800 aspirants turned up for walk-in job interviews, has brought the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress at loggerheads.
A firm help walk-in interviews for 40 vacancies in Ankleshwar, with massive queues building up outside the venue. Videos went viral, showing people pushing and shoving as aspirants tried to get a firm hold on a ramp leading to the hotel's entrance, where interviews were being held.
The crowd was so massive that the ramp ended up collapsing, leading to several persons falling off. Thankfully, no one was injured.
But this incident triggered a war of words between the ruling BJP in the state and opposition Congress. While the grand old party said that the former's "Gujarat model" had been exposed, the BJP said that this was Congress' attempt to defame the state with a video.
Posting a video from outside the hotel, the Congress said, "Gujarat model of Narendra Modi. A huge crowd of unemployed people gathered for a hotel job in Bharuch, Gujarat."
"The situation became such that the railing of the hotel broke and the Gujarat model was exposed. Narendra Modi is imposing this model of unemployment on the entire country," it added.
Meanwhile, BJP's Gujarat unit took to X to respond to the allegations and said that efforts are being made to defame the state through a viral video from Ankleshwar.
"The advertisement for the walk-in interview clearly states that they require experienced candidates," the ruling party noted.
It noted that the ad implies that those attending the interviews were already employed elsewhere, dismissing that the notion of any one of these people being unemployed is "baseless".
"It's evident that spreading negativity about Gujarat is a tactic learned from the Congress!" the X post read.
As per the advertisement, the company was looking to fill vacancies of shift in-charge, plant operator, supervisor-CDS, fitter-mechanical and executive-ETP at its new plant in the Jhagadia industrial area.
Meanwhile, Bharuch Superintendent of Police Mayur Chavda said, "As per our information, a company arranged walk-in interviews for nearly 40 vacancies in five different roles. The company booked a hall in a hotel in Ankleshwar expecting some 150 candidates."
However, he said, 800 people had turned up and the company officials had to shut down he door of the interview hall to manage the crowd, which ultimately led to the situation seen in the video.
No one was injured in the melee and no complaint has come to the police in this regard, Chavda noted.
