Cars24 CEO's job post wooing 'non-Kannada speakers' in Bengaluru gets controversial
Vikram Chopra, CEO of Cars24, was probably trying to be creative in his job post to woo engineers from Bengaluru to work in Delhi. But, he ended up facing flak on social media
Vikram Chopra, CEO of Cars24, was probably trying to be creative to woo engineers from Bengaluru to work in Delhi in his hiring call post. But, he ended up facing flak on social media.
Chopra shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) targetting Bengaluru engineers open to moving to Delhi-NCR. Or, maybe he was wooing people originally from Delhi who were working in Bengaluru?
However, the job post read, "Still can't speak Kannada after years in Bengaluru? It's okay. Aa jao Dilli (come to Delhi)." He wanted “kick ass” engineers who want to stay closer to home.
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Delhi 'meri jaan'
Further, Chopra said that he was not saying Delhi NCR is better. “Only that it really is," he asserted, asking job seekers to write to him under the subject line - Delhi meri jaan (sic).
While some felt it was a tongue-in-cheek pitch to recruit job seekers, others felt it was some sort of a slight to Kannada.
One social media user slammed him for the underlying message in the hiring call. “So basically you want north Indians/Delhiites in your team? The rest of the folks?" asked one social media user.
Another user urged people to dig up Delhi’s crime data and think twice before moving to the capital.
One individual even dug out Chopra’s old post in which he criticised the national capital. "The most difficult thing in Delhi is to deal with its people," his post from 2009 read.
In June last year, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urged all residents of Karnataka to make a conscious decision to speak Kannada regardless of their linguistic background.
Non-Kannada speakers
However, the social media users who defended Chopra felt that non-Kannada speakers face a lot of challenges while living and working in Bengaluru. And, it was this demographic that Chopra was calling out to.