Written by Alok DeshpandeMumbai | Updated: September 17, 2025 08:26 PM IST 3 min read“Rahul Gandhi has time and again said that our politics should be based on the issues linked to the livelihood of the people,” said Dhananjay Shinde, general secretary of the Maharashtra Congress and state convener of the Employment Cell. (Credit: X/@Dhananjay4INC)Facing internal defections and a string of electoral setbacks, the Maharashtra Congress is banking on its newly formed Employment Cell to re-establish its grassroots presence, particularly among the youth. By organising job fairs and staging employment-related satyagrahas, the party is aiming to rebuild its organisational strength around the critical issue of job availability.On Tuesday, the party’s state headquarters at Tilak Bhavan in Mumbai’s Parel area hosted a job fair for the first time. The event drew more than 1,200 young job seekers to the decades-old building, which typically sees such footfall only during visits by senior leadership or post-election celebrations.“Rahul Gandhi has time and again said that our politics should be based on the issues linked to the livelihood of the people. Congress built its headquarters in Parel because it was an area populated by the working class. This was the best place to arrange such a job fair for the needy youth,” said Dhananjay Shinde, general secretary of the Maharashtra Congress and state convener of the Employment Cell.The job fair saw participation from 77 companies, with 751 interviews conducted throughout the day. Of these, 413 candidates were shortlisted, and 244 were given offer letters on the spot. Visuals from Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra played on digital screens throughout the event, which was organised by the party’s in-house team.“We will now be holding one such job fair in each of the revenue divisions of the state, which will be followed by district-level ones, where preference will be given to underdeveloped regions. The ultimate aim is to organise one such program in every tehsil. Unemployment is the biggest issue of today. As an Opposition, we will criticise the government on that front, but we will also deliver constructive works in this manner for the larger good of the public,” said Shinde.Apart from job fairs, the Employment Cell has also initiated a series of ‘Rojgar Satyagrahas’ (employment satyagrahas) across the state to highlight employment-related issues sector-wise.The first Satyagraha was held on July 1 at the gate of the Agriculture University, focusing on job issues in the agriculture sector. On July 21, civil and electrical engineers led another Satyagraha related to vacancies in the Irrigation Department. The third Satyagraha was held on August 25 in front of the Power Department, involving ITI and electrical engineering degree holders.Story continues below this ad“More than 50 lakh youngsters are applying for a few lakh government jobs. The problems in the government job recruitment system are unending, and we are raising our voice through Satyagraha, in a constitutional manner,” Shinde added.Maharashtra Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal asserted that these efforts go beyond party politics. “Despite being in the Opposition, we are taking the responsibility to provide jobs to the needy while the state and Central governments are merely making announcements and doing no work on the ground. We are committed to the people of this state, and we will be expanding our work in this field in the near future,” said Sapkal.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Mumbai