“Thousands of job seekers turned up at a job fair organised by the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) at the Talkatora Stadium in Delhi on Friday (June 19, 2026) to mark Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 56th birthday,” sources in the organisation said. The outfit claimed that around 35,000 people had registered for the event.

The job fair, organised jointly by the IYC and the Delhi Congress, witnessed long queues of candidates outside the venue from the morning, while the stadium hall was packed with participants seeking employment opportunities.

Addressing reporters, IYC national president Uday Bhanu Chib said the large turnout reflected the scale of unemployment in the country.

"By 10.30 a.m., the hall is full, and there is a long queue ahead outside the stadium. These are the youth of our country who have themselves found out about the job fair initiative online and applied on their own. This shows the scale of unemployment in our country," Mr. Chib said on X.

Calling the initiative a "silent protest", he alleged that the BJP-led Centre had failed to generate adequate employment opportunities for the youth.

"If the Opposition can take initiatives to give employment to the youth, then the BJP-led Centre should provide them jobs as well instead of showing them the false dream of two crore jobs every year," he said.

Mr. Chib said hundreds of companies participated in the fair and were conducting on-the-spot interviews. "Selected candidates will be sent offer letters, and those who have been issued offer letters will be hired from today," he said. According to the party, registrations for the event had to be closed five days in advance after nearly 35,000 candidates signed up.

The programme began with the national anthem and saw candidates interacting with recruiters from participating firms. Visuals from the venue showed Mr. Chib interacting with job seekers and enquiring about their educational qualifications and preferred employers.