Amit Shah should focus on serious issues like Manipur, caste census: Mallikarjun Kharge

New Delhi: On a day Home Minister Amit Shah attacked him for his remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said Shah should focus on serious issues such as the Manipur situation, census and a caste census.

Shah on Monday termed Kharge's remarks on Prime Minister Modi at a public meeting in Jammu and Kashmir "absolutely distasteful and disgraceful".

In a post in Hindi on X, Kharge said, "Home Minister Amit Shah should focus on serious issues like Manipur, census and caste census." "Your government's own survey says that 92 per cent of the employees cleaning urban sewers and septic tanks come from SC, ST, OBC categories," the Congress chief said.

"The BJP is against caste census because then it will be known by which work SC, ST, OBC, EWS and all other categories are earning their livelihood. What is their economic and social status? What kind of targeted benefits of government schemes should they get?" Kharge said.

He asserted that the Congress party is firmly committed to getting a caste census done. "We will get it done," he added.

Kharge tagged the screenshot of a report in The Hindu which said that in a first-of-its-kind attempt to enumerate people engaged in the hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks in India's cities and towns, government data gathered from over 3,000 urban local bodies in 29 States and Union Territories shows that 91.9 per cent of the 38,000 workers profiled so far belong to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), or other backward class (OBC) communities.

Earlier, Shah said that in "a bitter display of spite", Kharge unnecessarily dragged the prime minister into his personal health matters by saying that he would die only after removing Modi from power.

At an election rally in Jasrota in Jammu on Sunday, Kharge was taken ill as he suffered a "syncopal attack" but resumed his speech after a brief pause, saying he won't die before PM Modi is removed from power.

"I am 83 years old. I am not going to die so early. I will stay alive till PM Modi is removed from power," the Congress leader said.

"I wanted to talk. But due to dizziness, I sat down. Please pardon me." Shah hit out at Kharge over his remarks.

"Yesterday, the Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge Ji has outperformed himself, his leaders and his party in being absolutely distasteful and disgraceful in his speech.

"In a bitter display of spite, he unnecessarily dragged PM Modi into his personal health matters by saying that he would die only after removing PM Modi from power," Shah wrote on X.

He said Kharge's remarks showed how much hate and fear the Congress people have for PM Modi and that they are constantly thinking of him.

"As for the health of Mr. Kharge Ji, Modi Ji prays, I pray and we all pray that he lives a long, healthy life. May he continue to live for many years and may he live to see the creation of a Viksit Bharat by 2047," the minister said.