Mallikarjun Kharge hits back at Amit Shah, demands focus on Manipur and caste census

In a sharp retort to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent criticism, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge hit back on Monday, September 30, accusing the BJP of sidestepping critical national issues. Shah had earlier criticized Kharge for linking his health concerns to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In response, Kharge, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to challenge Shah's priorities, urging the Home Minister to address pressing concerns such as the ongoing Manipur crisis and the caste census.

Kharge pointed out that a survey conducted by the BJP-led NDA government revealed that 92% of urban sewer and septic tank cleaners belong to the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) categories. He used this data to highlight the BJP's opposition to a caste-based census, arguing that such a survey would expose the socio-economic realities of marginalized communities and their roles in the labor force.

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"The BJP is against the caste census because it would reveal which segments of society are engaged in specific types of labor, such as cleaning sewers and septic tanks. It would also show the economic and social conditions of SC, ST, OBC, and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and help determine the benefits they should be receiving from government schemes," Kharge stated.

Reaffirming the Congress party's commitment to conducting a caste-based census, Kharge emphasized the importance of recognizing and addressing caste disparities. "The Congress party is determined to ensure the caste census is carried out. We will get it done," he declared, underscoring his party's agenda in bringing this issue to the forefront of political discourse.

In the wake of his comments, Kharge's remarks have reignited the debate over the caste census, a subject that has become a point of contention between the ruling BJP and the opposition.