Trucker from Karnal killed in US, Cong points to Haryana’s job crisis

A 24-year-old youth from Karnal’s Wazir Chand Colony lost his life in a tragic road accident in the US on Sunday, plunging his family into grief and sparking political outrage back home.

The deceased, identified as Ashish, had migrated to the US in 2023 through the ‘donkey’ route (illegal immigration) after his family raised nearly Rs 45 lakh through loans and borrowings. He had been working as a truck driver for the past year and died in a truck crash near Green Valley.

Ashish’s family said he had dreamt of improving their financial condition, but the tragedy has devastated the household.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala lashed out at the government, holding unemployment responsible for pushing Haryana’s youth to risk their lives in foreign lands.

“Another family in Haryana has lost its son due to the unemployment crisis. The BJP government has pushed our youth into misery, leaving them no choice but to take dangerous routes in search of livelihood,” he said.

Sharing his remarks on social media platform X, Surjewala further questioned the silence of the state leadership. “Karnal, the constituency of former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, reflects the pain of the entire state, but the BJP’s so-called ‘double-engine’ government remains unmoved. Chief Minister Nayab Saini must answer how long Haryana’s youth will be forced to take the risky donkey route in search of livelihood. How long will families continue to mortgage their future, take massive loans, and then lose their sons forever across the seas?”

He alleged that instead of tackling unemployment and despair, the government was focused solely on clinging to power.