Don’t get caught in race for jobs, says U.P. Deputy CM, buy vehicles, join Bharat Taxi

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Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak. File picture | Photo Credit: ANI

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak sparked a controversy after videos of his recent speech, in which he is seen urging young people to look beyond finding jobs and consider earning a living by driving taxis, went viral on social media.

Mr. Pathak, while speaking at an event to promote the newly launched Bharat Taxi in Lucknow on September 23, 2026, told young people that owning and driving their own vehicle could provide an alternative source of livelihood.

“Don’t get caught up in the race for jobs... your own vehicle, your own hands, your own money. This way, the money will stay in your own household,” he said, adding that the U.P. government would help youth in securing easy loans to buy taxis.

Applauding the flexible working model for drivers, he further suggested that they could drive for a few hours, return home to spend time with their children, which was not possible when employed for others.

“Take two more turns on the days you want to earn extra,” he added.

He appealed to people across U.P. to use Bharat Taxi, and urged young people with driving skills to consider taking up the profession. He also argued that driving should not be viewed as inferior work, citing the example of a porter who became famous.

Asking if people knew how the American economy had become strong, Mr. Pathak said the money spent by the U.S. government circulated through the economy 38 times, whereas money in India circulated about 18 times.

“The day we are able to close this gap....we will become world’s number one economy,” he added, attributing India’s economic problems to the Opposition Congress’s “politics of appeasement”.

“The Congress’s politics of appeasement resulted in ₹17 being pushed within a single day. When the country was facing crisis, the previous government, under American and international pressure, worked to bring the Indian rupee down,” the U.P. Deputy CM said.

Mr. Pathak credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government with strengthening India’s position in the global economy, and said India had moved economically from the 11th place in 2014 to fourth place today.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader alleged that the Cooperative Department had become a centre of corruption under the previous Samajwadi Party (SP) rule, contrasting the “pistol culture” of the time with the “pen culture” in U.P. today.

Mr. Pathak’s statements were widely criticised by Opposition leaders and social media users, who asked the Deputy CM when he is buying a taxi for himself.

SP chief and former U.P. CM Akhilesh Yadav took to social media platform X and shared two videos in response. In one video, U.P. CM Yogi Adityanath is heard saying 1.5 lakh jobs would be created within six months, and the other in which Mr. Pathak is seen asking youth to drive a taxi instead of looking for jobs.

“U.P. Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak is urging young people not to chase jobs and instead drive e-rickshaws. Then what did people elect the BJP’s double-engine government for? These are the illiterates running the U.P govt!” Congress’s national spokesperson Shama Mohamed said. Mr. Pathak should ask his own children to follow his advice, she said, “They should also drive an auto[rickshaw] and open a puncture shop.”

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