Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the Congress pary, tore into Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slogans "batenge toh katenge" and “ek hain toh safe hain” while releasing the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) poll manifesto for the Maharashtra Assembly election. He accused the Prime Minister and his party indulging in divisive politics during the campaign.

"Modi claimed that this red book is an urban Naxal book and it is a piece of Marxist literature. Yet, in 2017, Modi himself presented the same book to then-President Ram Nath Kovind. He even said it had blank pages," Kharge said. Kharge also demanded to know as to what did Yogi Adityanath, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, and the PM mean when they say "batenge toh katenge" (divided, we die) and   'ek hain toh safe hain' (together we are safe) respectively.

"What do they mean by this? Aap kisko kaatangey (who will you kill)? Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, who sacrificed themselves to keep India united. This slogan is by Yogi Ji. Modi Ji says, 'ek hain toh safe hain'. I do not know which of these slogans will work.  The fact remains you belong to the group that killed the very person who gave us independence," Kharge said.

Listing the salient points in the three-party front's  poll manifesto, Kharge said that the MVA, if elected to power in Maharashtra, would conduct caste census and increase the ceiling of reservation beyond the current 50 per cent in line with what is prevailing in Tamil Nadu. 'Through this census, we do not intend to divide people, but try to understand the status of various communities and ensure that they receive more benefits," he added.

"Our guarantees will go a long way the uplifting households and every family will get relief of around Rs 3.5 lakh in a year," the Congress president said while releasing the manifesto with alliance partners.