Uday Bhanu Chib is the national president of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), the youth wing of the Congress party. Prior to his appointment as IYC chief he had served as its national general secretary. He had also served as the president of the Jammu and Kashmir wing of the Youth Congress and National Students’ Union of India (NSUI).

In an interview with Santu Das of The Statesman, Chib talks about the initiative taken by IYC to strengthen its cadre across the country, organizational functioning, its vision for the youth and working of the BJP-led NDA government. He also accused the BJP-led government of betraying the people of Jammu and Kashmir by not granting it statehood.

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Q: The grand old party has been emphasizing on strengthening the party at the grassroots level. What are the initiatives taken by IYC in this regard?

A: In IYC, we have an internal democratic process and we follow that. We have been giving importance to the review system. We want the organization to be strong at the ground level. We are motivating and promoting those people who are doing good work for the organization. We are taking action against those who are not serious. On a routine basis, we are taking action against such people. IYC district presidents who are doing good work are being promoted and those who are not doing well have been changed. We are making changes in the IYC leadership in the districts where our organization is weak. Every month, we are making changes in a few districts in different states and Union territories. Our target is to completely stop this and everyone should work seriously.

Q: We have seen from time to time IYC has been staging protests in different states raising issues concerning the people. What is the IYC vision for the countrymen, especially for youth and women’s rights?

A: The vision of IYC is to raise the issues of the youth and fight for their rights. This is our primary work. Today, the biggest problem in India is unemployment. It is our duty to highlight this so that the government takes initiative in this regard. Our other target is to increase the participation of women in politics. So, we work on all these.

Q: What is IYC doing to increase its cadre across the country?

A: We are organizing a membership drive. Youths who are depressed with the BJP-led government, we welcome them to our organization. Even from non-political organizations, people join us. Recently, our ‘Young India Ke Bol’ concluded. People from political and non-political backgrounds filled the online form for this flagship programme. The participants were given the opportunity to become the state and national spokespersons of IYC.

Q: Recently, the Bihar Youth Congress took out a yatra named “Palyan roko, naukri do yatra”. Assembly elections are scheduled to be held later this year in Bihar. What was the reason for the yatra?

A: This was not the first yatra in Bihar. Our leader Rahul Gandhi had last year carried out the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in the state. The Yatra is necessary in Bihar because in the last 20 years, the biggest issues have been unemployment and migration. People from Bihar go to other states to work as labourers because they do not get jobs in their state. The biggest reason behind this is the present BJP and Janata Dal (United) government. They are not interested in making any policy through which they can generate employment opportunities for the people. The most concerning thing is that whenever the elections come, caste and religion are the issues, not unemployment and migration. Therefore we carried out the “Palyan roko, naukri do yatra” to make people aware about unemployment and migration so that they can question the ruling government.

Q: Many states like West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala will go to polls in 2026. What is IYC’s plan?

A: We are focusing on the issues concerning the people. We are raising their issues. We are also organizing non-political programmes to make people aware of different issues. Not only in these states, we are raising the issues concerning the public across the country. IYC is continuously working to become the voice of the youth.

Q: Recently, the AICC session was held in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad. The party has been out of power in the state for 30 years. What is IYC doing to increase its cadre in Gujarat?

A: We are carrying out a membership drive in Gujarat.

Q: Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has been at the Centre since 2014. How do you see the work of the Modi government at the Centre?

A: Unemployment is at its peak in the last 11 years. The government has not given any attention to address the unemployment issue. Another important issue is drugs, if the government wants it can completely eliminate it. The sad thing is that people from BJP themselves are involved in this. Despite making tall claims regarding foreign policy, Indians (illegal immigrants) were “handcuffed” and sent by the US to the country. The BJP has failed to give Minimum Support Price (MSP) to farmers. ‘Make in India’ has completely failed. Apart from this, there are many other things, BJP is far behind and has not performed as per the expectations. Q: Congress has been demanding statehood of Jammu and Kashmir. You are from Jammu and Kashmir. What would you like to say? A: Every person from Jammu and Kashmir wants statehood. The people of Jammu and Kashmir have only got betrayal from the BJP-led government at the Centre.