Kharge: Caste census in MP if Congress voted

Bhopal: AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday pledged to conduct a caste census and establish a university dedicated to Sant Ravidas, the 15th-century social reformer and dalit icon, in Madhya Pradesh if Congress is voted to power in the year-end Assembly elections in the state.

Addressing a public rally in Sagar under Bundelkhand, one of the most backward regions of Madhya Pradesh, Mr Kharge said that the Congress, if returned to power in the forthcoming Assembly elections, will conduct a caste census in the state for the development of the people belonging to the backward classes.

Referring to the announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his recent visit to Sagar to build a grand temple dedicated to Sant Ravidas at a cost of '100 crores, Mr Kharge said that he hailed the move, but the PM could also have saved the ancient shrine of Sant Ravidas in Delhi from being demolished.

The Sant Ravidas temple in Delhi was demolished, but it could have been saved had the PM intervened, he said.

The Congress president also said that the PM remembered Sant Ravidas now because Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh were barely a few months away.

Mr Kharge announced that the Congress, if voted to power in Madhya Pradesh, will also set up a university dedicated to Sant Ravidas.

He expressed concern over the growing number of incidents of atrocities against dalits and tribals in Madhya Pradesh and criticised the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government for failing to check them.

The Congress chief also accused the BJP of stealing the mandate given to his party in the 2018 Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh by poaching the Congress MLAs.

The BJP has stolen the mandates of people in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Manipur and Madhya Pradesh by poaching the MLAs of the ruling parties to form its government, he said.

Mr Kharge alleged corruption in the state BJP government and said that the BJP had lost power in Karnataka in the last Assembly elections because a 40 per cent illegal commission was being charged under the previous Bommai government.

The BJP will suffer a similar defeat in the year-end Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections because the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government "extorts a 50 per cent commission", he added.

State Congress president and former chief minister Kamal Nath also spoke on the occasion.