Congress President Kharge hits back at Amit Shah, calls for focus on “Manipur, caste census”

New Delhi: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge hit back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday following the minister’s criticism of Kharge for linking his health to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Taking a jibe at the Union Minister, Kharge took to social media platform X and said that the Shah should pay attention to serious issues like “Manipur and Caste Census.”

Referring to a survey conducted by the BJP-led NDA government, where he stated that 92 per cent of the urban sewers and septic tank cleaners come from SC, ST, and OBC categories, Kharge slammed the BJP and stated that they are against the caste census because it would reveal what categories of people are engaged in what type of work for their livelihood.

गृह मंत्री अमित शाह को मणिपुर, Census और जातिगत जनगणना जैसे गंभीर मुद्दों पर ध्यान देना चाहिए।

आपकी सरकार का ही सर्वे कहता है कि शहरी सीवरों, सेप्टिक टैंकों की सफाई करने वाले 92% कर्मचारी SC, ST, OBC वर्गों से आते हैं।

भाजपा जातिगत जनगणना के विरोध में इसलिए है क्योंकि तब… pic.twitter.com/bDv42cehFR

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) September 30, 2024

He further reaffirmed Congress’s determination to conduct a caste-based census.

“Home Minister Amit Shah should pay attention to serious issues like the Manipur, Census and Caste Census. A survey conducted by your own government says that 92 percent of the workers cleaning urban sewers and septic tanks come from SC, ST, and OBC categories. BJP is against caste census because then it will be known by which work SC, ST, OBC, EWS and all other classes are earning their livelihood. What is their economic and social status? What kind of targeted benefits of government schemes should they get? The Congress party is determined to get the caste census done. We will get it done,” the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha said.

Earlier today, Union Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Shah came down heavily on Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and said that the Congress leader had outperformed himself, the party leaders and the party in being “distasteful and disgraceful” during his speech on the last day of campaigning for the third and final phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls.

This came following Kharge’s speech, where he said that he would stay alive until Prime Minister Narendra Modi was removed from power after he felt unwell while addressing a rally in the Jasrota area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district on Sunday.