The students were protesting against PM Modi’s recent remarks that selling pakodas is also a form of employment and can be seen in the light of ‘job creation’. (Picture Source: ANI)

In an apparent protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments on employment in the country, college students in Bengaluru donning convocation robes sold ‘pakodas’ to passersby on Sunday ahead of the PM’s rally there. They were later taken into custody by the city police. The students were protesting against PM Modi’s recent remarks that selling pakodas is also a form of employment and can be seen in the light of ‘job creation’.

The students gathered close to the Mehkri Circle in Bengaluru, a city which is considered the IT-hub of the country and is known to provide employment opportunities to IT professionals from across the country.

A short distance away, in the state capital of poll-bound Karnataka’s Palace Grounds, the Prime Minister addressed a campaign rally.

In an interview to a news channel in January, PM Modi, talking about employment in the country, had said that even an individual selling pakodas at a road-side stall outside the channel’s studio earns Rs 200 a day and is ’employed’.

The protestors labelled the fried dumplings ‘Modi Pakodas’, ‘Amit Shah Pakoda’ and ‘Dr Yeddy Pakodas’, an jibe towards the PM, the BJP chief and the state party chief Yeddyurappa, selling the snack to the public, which included BJP supporters and workers heading towards the PM’s rally.

A short distance away, in the state capital of poll-bound Karnataka’s Palace Grounds, the Prime Minister addressed a campaign rally. (Picture Source: ANI)They were later taken into custody by the city police. (Picture Source: ANI)(With PTI and ANI)