Mallikarjun Kharge slams PM over ‘blank Constitution’ remark, vows caste census

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday pledged to implement a caste census in Maharashtra if the opposition alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is voted to power in the upcoming assembly elections.

Releasing the poll manifesto of the alliance, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also announced that they would increase the current 50 per cent reservation cap in the state. “We will conduct a caste census in Maharashtra and increase the ceiling of the 50 percent reservation, similar to Tamil Nadu. The caste census is not meant to divide people, but to understand how various communities are positioned so that they can receive more benefits,” he said at a press conference in Mumbai.

The Congress chief slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for claiming that Rahul Gandhi showed a blank Constitution at a recent event. Kharge called the PM “jhuto ka sirdar” (king of lies) and said, “He claimed that this red book is an urban Naxalite book and a piece of Marxist literature. Yet, he gifted the same book to then-President Ram Nath Kovind in 2017. He even said this book contains blank pages…”

Hitting out at BJP’s ‘batenge toh katenge’ (If divided, we perish), slogan, Kharge remarked that Indira and Rajiv Gandhi sacrificed their lives for the nation’s unity.

“What does he mean by this? ‘Aap kisko kaatangey?’… Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi sacrificed their lives to keep the country united. This is Yogi ji’s slogan. Modi Ji says ‘ek hain toh safe hain’. I don’t know which slogan will work… You are among the people who killed the one who got us independence,” he said.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi, in its manifesto, presented five guarantees in sectors such as agriculture, rural development, urban development, and health. “We have five pillars for the progress and development of Maharashtra… Our five guarantees will help in the upliftment of families and every family will get relief of around Rs 3.5 lakh in a year,” the Congress chief explained.

Key promises in the poll manifesto include the Mahalakshmi Yojna that will provide Rs 3,000 to women every month, mirroring the current Ladki Behna Yojana, which offers Rs 1,500. The Mahayuti had promised to increase it to Rs 2,100 once elected.

A health insurance scheme of Rs 25 lakh, similar to the one announced by the former Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan, will be implemented in Maharashtra, Kharge added. The manifesto also promises to provide free medicine.

Additionally, it guarantees a farm loan waiver of up to Rs 3 lakh. Farmers repaying loans above this amount will receive assistance of Rs 50,000. The MVA also promised Rs 4,000 per month to unemployed youths who are graduates or diploma holders.