Launching a scathing attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said it was necessary to enroll Modi in a primary school again for his red book of the Constitution flaunted by the grand old party blank remarks.  

Addressing a press conference after launching the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi ‘s (MVA) manifesto for Maharashtra Assembly elections, Kharge displayed a red book of the Constitution and said it was not blank as was being projected by PM Modi and his party BJP.

”It is necessary to enroll him in a primary school again,” the Congress chief said. Kharge said the red handbook was only used for reference and it was not the entire Constitution.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, NCP-SCP MP Supriya Sule, Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole, Congress National General Secretary KC Venugopal and other leaders of the MVA alliance were also present during the launch of the MVA manifesto.

On the Prime Minister and BJP equating a red book of the Constitution with urban Naxalism, Kharge said Modi gave a similar copy in 2017 to then President Ram Nath Kovind.

The Congress chief also noted that his party’s demand for a caste census is not to divide people, but to understand how various communities are placed at present so that they can get more benefits.

Notably, PM Modi on Saturday termed the act as a testament to Congress’ disregard and hate for Ambedkar and said the red book of the Constitution which was flaunted and distributed by the grand old party contained nothing.

PM Modi was referring to the recent event led by Lok Sabha LoP and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Maharashtra’s Nagpur, where reportedly the books with ‘Constitution of India’ written on the front, containing blank pages except for the preamble on the first page, were distributed.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently alleged that Gandhi was trying to seek support from urban Naxals and anarchists by holding a red book in his hand.

Gandhi, who has been demanding quite times for a nationwide caste census and has been displaying an abridged version of the Constitution in a red cover during his rallies, has promised a caste census in Maharashtra also. The Congress ruled Telangana kicked off the caste census in the state on Saturday.

The Congress leader described the MVA’s manifesto as all-inclusive and participatory. Amongst several promises for Maharashtra, Kharge emphasised giving Rs 4,000 monthly stipend to youth seeking jobs.

He said the health insurance scheme of Rs 25 lakh which was started by former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in the state will be implemented in Maharashtra as well.  

“We have decided to do a caste census and we will remove the 50% ceiling on reservation, in line with Tamil Nadu,” he asserted.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted on Sunday that Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray was aligning himself with the Congress, whose leaders have shown disrespect towards Balasaheb Thackeray, the founder of Shiv Sena, and the Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar.

After launching the BJP’s manifesto for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections scheduled for November 20, Shah emphasised that his party would not permit religion-based reservations in the country.

He criticised the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)—which includes Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and the NCP led by Sharad Pawar—for lacking credibility, stating, “The Maha Vikas Aghadi’s trust has gone below ‘pataal’ (the depths); it has no credibility.”

According to him, the ruling Mahayuti coalition, comprising the BJP, the Shiv Sena under Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP, is better positioned against the MVA, whose promises he claimed insult ideology and promote appeasement.

Shah noted that the Congress has failed to honor its pre-election commitments in states where it currently governs. He challenged Thackeray to ask Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to express admiration for Veer Savarkar and to find any Congress member willing to honor Balasaheb Thackeray.

“It would be beneficial for the people of Maharashtra to understand who is proposing an alliance government amidst such contradictions,” he remarked.

The BJP’s manifesto, referred to as ‘Sankalp Patra,’ is designed to reflect the aspirations of the people of Maharashtra. Shah highlighted a demand from an organisation of Ulemas for minority reservations, which was acknowledged by state Congress president Nana Patole.

He stated, “I want to tell Uddhav Thackeray that you are sitting with individuals who oppose the Ram Mandir, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the Uniform Civil Code, the Waqf board amendments, and who insult Savarkar.”

He cautioned that failure to enact Waqf board amendments could lead to the declaration of personal properties as Waqf by the board.

Shah raised a crucial question regarding whether the citizens of Maharashtra support allocating reservations meant for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes to Muslims, asserting that the Constitution does not sanction reservations based on religion. He noted that Congress promised such reservations before assuming power, urging the public to recognise this discrepancy.

He also remarked that for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, the J&K Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, took an oath on the Constitution designed by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.

Shah claimed that the BJP’s resolutions are “etched in stone,” affirming that whether at the Centre or in the state, the BJP is resolute in fulfilling its commitments when elected.

Continuing his attack, Shah labeled the MVA’s election proposals as ideologically shallow, stating, “I want to tell Sharad Pawar that his attempts to fabricate a false mandate will not succeed now.”

He challenged Pawar to detail his contributions to Maharashtra during his tenure as a minister in the UPA government, reiterating that Maharashtra has been a leader in various fields.

Shah expressed confidence that the people of Maharashtra are inclined to grant their mandate to the Mahayuti once again. State Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, present at the event, described the BJP’s manifesto as a blueprint for a developed Maharashtra contributing to a developed India.

The Congress on Sunday asserted that India was facing a demand crisis due to sustained income stagnation. It said the double engine of private investment and mass consumption, which drove a decade of continuous GDP growth under the UPA government, has been derailed during the past ten years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

Jairam Ramesh, Congress general secretary in charge of communications, urged the government to adopt the Congress’s proposals, which include increasing MGNREGA wages to a minimum of Rs. 400 per day, ensuring a minimum support price (MSP) for farmers, implementing a loan waiver for farmers, and establishing a monthly income support scheme for women—steps he believes are essential to revive income growth in rural India.

Ramesh emphasised that the deterioration of India’s consumption patterns is becoming increasingly evident each day. He pointed out that last week, several CEOs from India’s corporate sector expressed concerns about a ‘shrinking’ middle class, and recent data from the NABARD’s All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey (NAFIS) 2021-22 corroborates the claim that the demand crisis in India stems from income stagnation.

According to the survey, Ramesh highlighted that the average monthly household income ranges from Rs 12,698 to Rs 13,661 for agricultural households and approximately Rs 11,438 for non-agricultural households. “Assuming an average household size of 4.4, the per capita income in rural areas is estimated at Rs. 2,886 per month—less than Rs 100 a day. Consequently, a significant majority of Indians have very limited funds for discretionary spending beyond basic necessities,” he stated.

“This situation is hardly an isolated case; virtually all evidence leads to the same alarming conclusion: the average Indian can afford to buy less today than they could a decade ago. This is the fundamental reason behind India’s consumption slowdown,” Ramesh argued.

He cited data from the Labour Bureau’s Wage Rate Index, showing that real wages for labourers have stagnated between 2014 and 2023 and have even declined from 2019 to 2024. Furthermore, he referenced the Ministry of Agriculture’s statistics, stating that during Dr Manmohan Singh’s tenure, real wages for agricultural labourers grew by 6.8 per cent annually, whereas, under Modi, these wages have decreased by an annual rate of -1.3 per cent.

Ramesh also referred to the Periodic Labour Force Survey data, indicating that real earnings across all employment types—salaried, casual, and self-employed—have stagnated between 2017 and 2022. He included findings from the Centre for Labour Research and Action, asserting that the real wages of brick kiln workers have either stagnated or declined from 2014 to 2022.

“This decline in consumption is undermining our medium- and long-term economic potential, regardless of what quarterly GDP figures may indicate,” he maintained. He contended that without significant growth in consumption to create a viable market for their products, the private sector would be hesitant to invest in expanding production.

Ramesh pointed out that the government’s own Economic Survey (2024) acknowledged that private sector gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) in machinery, equipment, and intellectual property products has only increased by 35 per cent cumulatively over the four years leading to FY23. He noted a further decline in new project announcements by the private sector, which fell by 21 per cent between FY23 and FY24.

Recently, the Confederation of Indian Industry, the leading industry association, suggested that the government increase MGNREGA wages by 40 per cent, raise payments under the PM-KISAN scheme by one-third, and issue “consumption vouchers” for low-income citizens to use on specific goods and services over a six- to eight-month period.

Ramesh stated that these recommendations align with the proposals of the Indian National Congress outlined in its Nyay Patra for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. These include raising MGNREGA wages to a minimum of Rs. 400 per day, ensuring MSP for farmers, providing a loan waiver for farmers, and establishing a monthly income support scheme for women. Ramesh called on the government to embrace these proposals to spur income growth in rural India after years of stagnation.

He reiterated that the dual forces of private investment and mass consumption that fueled the Congress-led UPA’s era of sustained GDP growth have been sidelined in the past ten years under the “non-biological PM.”

He emphasised it is time to restore this balance. Last week, the Congress also accused the government of deliberately undermining Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through “careless policymaking, a disastrous demonetization, a flawed GST rollout, and an unplanned lockdown due to Covid-19,” attributing part of the departure from labour-intensive growth to these actions.