Why Centre not conducting Census and sitting on previous data? asks Nana Patole

Nana Patole. File Pic

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Tuesday said if the country needs "financially and educationally sound communities" the Centre should conduct the decennial census which has been pending since 2021, reported news agency PTI.

He said the I-N-D-I-A bloc allies of Congress have decided to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls on merit in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra and elsewhere.

According to Patole, the Congress party structure is being set up across eight districts in Marathwada and about 70 per cent of work is complete.

Marathwada region was considered the stronghold of Shiv Sena (undivided) and its former ally BJP.

"We have asked urban units of Congress to complete setting up of the party structure in a month while rural units have given a two-month time," Patole told reporters after chairing the regional level meeting of the party in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

Soon Congress will become a cadre-based party, he added.

"The Centre didn't conduct the Census in 2021. They have also not released the previous Census data. If we want financially and educationally sound communities, the Census should be conducted," he said.

The Congress leader alleged the Union government has failed to double the income of farmers as promised earlier, on the other hand, the number of suicides by farmers has gone up four-fold.

"The BJP should take the responsibility of suicide by farmers. The government should declare drought in Marathwada as many areas have not received enough rain this year," he said.

Speaking on the water scarcity in the region, Patole said the Bombay High Court had earlier ordered the release of water to the Jayakwadi dam if upper dams over the Godavari river (and its tributaries) have enough storage.

"Considering this, the government should see that the water is released now as much of the water didn't reach the lower dam in the summer," he added.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was looting the country in the same way as the British and the aim of the Congress was to dethrone it, the opposition party's Maharashtra unit chief Nana Patole said on Monday.

He alleged the BJP-led government at the Centre had "sold" the railways, airports, power distribution system and several public sector enterprises, adding the "Narendra Modi government was running the country by selling its assets".

"The Bharatiya Janata Party is looting the country in the same way as the British. There is an attempt to end the democratic system, the Constitution and the judicial system of the country. But just as the powerful British rule was thrown out, the Congress party's objective is to dethrone the BJP's authoritarian government," he asserted.

(With inputs from PTI)