Nandurbar (PTI): Conducting caste census is our party's guarantee, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in Maharashtra's Nandurbar district on Tuesday.

"We have given a guarantee that there should be social, economic and caste census," Ramesh, Congress general secretary and in-charge of communications, told reporters ahead of party leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entering Maharashtra on its last leg.

"This is our society's X-ray which will show us the population of various castes and their share in our nation's wealth. It will also reflect their stake in our democratic institutions," the former Union minister said.

Nandurbar district is known for its connection with the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Comprising a part of the Satpura mountain ranges and Narmada river belt, Nandurbar district in North Maharashtra also touches Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

The yatra will culminate in Mumbai, where Rahul Gandhi will address a public rally on March 17.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Mumbai, Mar 14 (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday called the BJP rule in Maharashtra worse than that of Aurangzeb and claimed that farmers were dying because of the saffron party.

He claimed that farmers, unemployed people and women are committing suicides in the state.

“It’s been 400 years since Aurangzeb was buried. Forget him. Are farmers in Maharashtra committing suicide due to Aurangzeb? They are doing it because of you," Raut said.

If the Mughal ruler committed atrocities, then what is the government doing, he asked. BJP leads the ruling Mahayuti coalition, also comprising the Shiv Sena and NCP, in the state.

“Farmers are committing suicide. BJP's tenure is worse than that of Aurangzeb,” Raut said.

He was responding to a question on Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s remarks that “everyone” feels Mughal ruler Aurangzeb’s tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar should be removed. But it has to be done under legal purview as the previous Congress regime put the site under the Archaeological Survey of India's protection, Fadnavis had said.

BJP's Satara MP Udayanraje Bhosale, a descendant of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, had sought the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb located in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.

Aurangzeb is remembered in Maharashtra for his battles with the Marathas, who resisted his expansionist ambitions. Shivaji Maharaj's son, Sambhaji, was captured, tortured, and executed on his orders.