Ranchi: Union defence minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said the Congress has been deceiving the electorate in poll-bound Jharkhand by promising a nationwide caste census as they do not have any blueprint for identifying the castes and determining their reservations.
"Rahul Gandhi does not know how many castes exist in the country. In 2011, they conducted a caste census but did not publish its report. The social welfare department conducted a census a few years ago and it was found that there are nearly 8,000 castes. The Congress does not have a blueprint on how they plan to implement caste-based reservations, and which caste gets how much reservation. They are only deceiving the people," Singh told an election rally in Khijri (ST) assembly constituency in Ranchi district.
Earlier in the day, Singh addressed rallies in Tundi in Dhanbad and Mahagama in Godda.
Attacking the Hemant Soren-led INDIA bloc, Singh said only a person who has not been tainted should become the CM of Jharkhand. "Three chief ministers of Jharkhand have served time in prison. On the other hand, look at our CMs- Babulal Marandi, Raghubar Das and Arjun Munda. No one can point fingers at them for corruption," he said.
Claiming that the BJP led NDA would win two-thirds of the 43 assembly segments which voted on November 13, Singh said a stable BJP government for two consecutive terms is imperative for Jharkhand's development. "Look at Chhattisgarh. While Jharkhand has slid downhill in the last few years, Chhattisgarh has taken its place among the developed states in the country. It happened because there was a stable BJP govt for three terms. I am not here to seek votes for BJP for one term. I request you all to give BJP two consecutive terms and we will make Jharkhand one of the top developed states in the country," he added.