MVA promises caste census

Mumbai: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday launched the joint manifesto of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance for the upcoming Assembly polls in Maharashtra and highlighted the five core areas the grouping will work towards in the state.

The manifesto promises to give financial aid of Rs 3,000 to women in the state. Launching the joint manifesto of the MVA, 'Maharashtra Nama', Kharge said the five pillars for the progress and development of Maharashtra were farming and rural development, industry and employment, urban development, environment and public welfare.

"... Our five guarantees will be helpful in the welfare of all in Maharashtra. Every family will receive an annual aid of about Rs 3 lakh. Our Mahalakshmi scheme will give financial aid to all women, who will be given Rs 3,000 each, every month... We will launch a free bus service for the women of Maharashtra... We will give Rs 50,000 each to farmers who repay their loans on time," the Congress president said.

“The youth seeking jobs will be given a Rs 4,000 monthly stipend... Our health insurance scheme of Rs 25 lakh was started by Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan and it will be implemented in Maharashtra as well. We promise to provide free medicines as well...

We have decided to do a caste census and we will remove the 50 per cent ceiling on reservations, in line with Tamil Nadu.” Kharge added.

The Congress chief also targeted the Prime Minister for linking the ‘red book’ of the Constitution to ‘urban Naxalism’ and pointed out that the PM had gifted the same to Ram Nath Kovind when the latter was President in 2017.

“He (PM Narendra Modi) said this red book is an urban Naxalite book and a piece of Marxist literature... He gifted the same book to the then President Ram Nath Kovind in 2017... He even said this book contains blank pages...”

In a scathing attack on the BJP, he said, “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.” “They have already divided the people with slogans like ‘batenge toh katenge’. We have united this nation,” Kharge added.