The Congress will conduct a caste census in Madhya Pradesh after winning the assembly polls in the state, said party president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday. He was addressing a public rally in Sagar in MP's Bundelkhand region.
Assembly polls are expected to be held in the BJP-ruled state at the end of the year. The BJP government has not implemented the Bundelkhand package sanctioned on the recommendation of senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, said Kharge.
The Congress president criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of not doing "anything" for violence-hit Manipur.
Referring to the laying of the foundation stone of a Rs 100 crore memorial-cum-temple of Sant Ravidas, a revered figure for Scheduled Castes, by PM Modi earlier this month, Kharge said "they laid the foundation of Saint Ravidas temple in Sagar but demolished his in Delhi.”
He alleged that PM Modi remembered Saint Ravidas only during elections. As per the 2011 Census, the population of Dalits in MP was 1.13 crore.
Kharge blasted the Bharatiya Janata Party and its leaders for stealing the popular mandates by bribing and intimidating MLAs after losing the elections. Their only aim is cling to power by any means, he remarked about the BJP.Addressing a mammoth public rally here today, Mr Kharge questioned the claims of “clean image and clean politics” made by the BJP leaders while referring to Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh where the party (BJP) stole the popular mandate by either bribing or intimidating the MLAs to switch sides.
The Congress president said, the BJP has always been vindictive and intimidating against political opponents. He said, the party uses agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, the CBI, the Vigilance to harass and intimidate its opponents. He said so many Congress leaders were being harassed and jailed. He said, after November these people, while referring to BJP leaders, will run away to Mumbai and Delhi for cover as they will be held accountable for what their misdeeds.
He added, the Congress does not believe in vindictiveness, vendetta or intimidation. “We neither intimidate people, nor get intimidated”, he asserted. He avowed that in Karnataka people had removed the corrupt BJP Srakara in recently concluded assembly election and now was the turn of the people of Madhya Pradesh to throw a more corrupt BJP government out of power.
Referring to the corruption charges, he said, in Karnataka it was 40 percent corruption while asking people how much was it in Madhya Pradesh. To this there was a unanimous shout from the crowd, “50 percent”. He told them now was the time to remove the “50 percent corrupt” government in MP. The Congress president reiterated party’s five commitments including the waiving off of the farmers’ debt, 100 units of free power, Rs 1,500 monthly stipend for women, gas cylinder for Rs 500 and old pension scheme for the government employees.
Bundelkhand, in north-east MP, has six Assembly seats reserved for SCs, and the BJP had won five of them in the 2018 state polls, namely Bina, Naryoli, Jatara, Chandala, and Hatta, while the Congress managed to get Gunnor.
Bundelkhand comprises Sagar, Chattarpur, Tikamgarh, Nimari, Damoh, and Panna districts, with 26 Assembly seats, of which 15 were won by the BJP in the last state polls, while the Congress got nine, and one each was won by Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.