Mallikarjun Kharge Attempts To Woo Dalit Voters In Madhya Pradesh, Promises Caste Census, Sant Ravidas University

With a focus on the Dalit population in the poll-bound state of Madhya Pradesh, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge made several election promises and allegations against the ruling BJP government on Tuesday (22 August).

One of the promises is to conduct a caste census in Madhya Pradesh following Congress victory in the upcoming assembly elections. Another promise is to establish a university in the name of Sant Ravidas in Sagar district.

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently inaugurated a Rs 100 crore memorial-temple for Sant Ravidas in Sagar district. However, Kharge alleged that the BJP remembers Sant Ravidas only during elections.

Kharge also claimed that the BJP demolished a temple of Sant Ravidas in Delhi. The incident is of August 2019 when Delhi Development Authority (DDA) demolished the temple in Tughlaqabad are after Supreme Court's order. DDA reports to the centre.

Calling BR Ambedkar another Dalit leader, whom BJP uses for political gains, Kharge asserted that the BJP attempts to change Constitution written by Ambedkar but it would not be successful due to the overwhelming support of the country's 1.4 billion people.

Addressing a public rally in Sagar, within MP's Bundelkhand region, Kharge also brought up the Sidhi urination incident. He asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the perpetrator belongs to which party.

BJP leader Pravesh Shukla was seen urinating on a tribal man in a viral video. MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan later washed the victims feet and apologized to him. Kharge also attacked this gesture.

The Dalit population in Madhya Pradesh, according to the 2011 Census, was 1.13 crore. Bundelkhand, located in northeast Madhya Pradesh, has six SC-reserved assembly seats. 22 per cent people of this region hail from SC communities.

In the 2018 state polls, the BJP secured five of the six SC-reserved seats (Bina, Naryoli, Jatara, Chandala, and Hatta), while the Congress won Gunnor.

The region comprises Sagar, Chattarpur, Tikamgarh, Nimari, Damoh, and Panna districts, with 26 assembly seats. In the previous state elections, the BJP secured 15 seats, the Congress won nine, and one each was secured by the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.

Additionally, Kharge claimed that the Bundelkhand package recommended by senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had not been implemented by the BJP government.