Govt job aspirants protest over ‘2 lakh-plus’ vacancies, Siddaramaiah blames graft under BJP rule and legal hurdles

Kanthakumar alleged that the Government had deployed police to suppress the protest, which also witnessed some confusion: half the protesters stayed put at Jubilee Circle while the others attended a public meeting that followed the protest.

Speaking at the protest, Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka said the BJP had filled all vacancies during its tenure in government and was ready to discuss the matter on any platform. “The Government has to accept that it is either bankrupt or should announce the recruitment process immediately,” he said.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah issued a statement that he had taken the protest seriously.
“When we came to power, more than 2.64 lakh government posts were vacant. This situation did not arise overnight; during the previous BJP Government’s tenure, recruitment was not initiated on time. Nor was any proper plan made to fill the vacant posts. It is unfortunate that Opposition leaders are misleading innocent students and using them to fulfil their political interests,” he said.

He said the recruitment crisis in the state was due to “irregularities and corruption in recruitment during the BJP Government’s tenure from 2019 to 2023” and the ongoing court cases related to internal reservation. Noting that the Government had filled 40,000 posts in the past few years, Siddaramaiah said the process of recruitment was underway and would be completed within a fixed timeframe.

Labour Minister Santosh Lad, who is also in charge of Dharwad district, said the BJP was supporting the protest as it had caught wind of a budget announcement to fill 50,000 vacancies in the next fiscal.
Union minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy posted on X that the highest vacancies persist in the education, health, and police departments.

“Alarmingly, 18 key police stations in Bengaluru city are functioning without Inspectors, a telling symptom of a government preoccupied with transfers. This drift in governance is already having adverse consequences on the ground. The government must act with urgency, step down from the third floor of Vidhana Soudha and listen to the voice of the youth,” wrote the Union minister for heavy industries and steel.