New Delhi, Nov 22 (PTI) Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi who handed over 71,000 job letters to youths, terming it an "election stunt" and reminded the BJP government that it had promised 2 crore jobs every year.

The prime minister on Tuesday distributed 71,056 appointment letters to new recruits via video conferencing. Physical copies of appointment letters were handed over at 45 locations across the country, except Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh where the Model Code of Conduct is in force.

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"Today PM Modi is distributing 71,000 job letters to mislead the voters. In a government where 30 lakh posts are lying vacant, it is too little.

"The promise was to give 2 crore jobs annually! Sixteen crore jobs were to be given in eight years but the "election stunt" is only in thousands!" he said in a tweet in Hindi.

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Handing over the job appointment letters, Modi said similar campaigns have been held in NDA-ruled states and union territories in the past one month.

"This is the double benefit of double-engine governments. The campaign to hand over appointment letters to the youth shall continue in a sustained manner," he said addressing the second 'Rozgar Mela' (employment fair) organised by the central government.

Double-engine government has been a campaign issue for the BJP in several assembly elections, including the recently concluded one in Himachal Pradesh and the upcoming polls in Gujarat.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)