In an effort to allay worries about “demographic change” in the state, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered a recent verification exercise that was harshly criticized by Uttarakhand Congress President Karan Mahara on Saturday.

Mahara voiced his disgust, saying, “I brought up this problem in the press two days ago. Has there been a census in the last 25 years that shows the growth in the Muslim or Hindu populations?

Interestingly, according to the 2011 census, Uttarakhand’s population was almost 1.10 crore, of whom 83 percent were Hindus (84 lakh), 13 percent were Muslims (14.06 lakh), and 2 percent were Sikhs.

“In my opinion, migration is the true problem. Villagers are migrating to cities in pursuit of greater employment opportunities, educational opportunities, and healthcare. “Villages are disappearing while cities are getting overcrowded,” Mahara said, raising issues related to migration.

The leader of the state Congress went on to criticize the BJP for “introducing terms like Uniform Civil Code (UCC), land jihad, love jihad, and now raising the issue of demographic change.”

He said that the BJP was diverting attention from its own electoral problems by exploiting religious language. “The BJP is in a predicament, and that is why they are trying to raise these religious issues,” he said.

Mahara made these comments in reaction to Chief Minister Dhami’s recent declaration of a verification push intended to allay worries about the state’s shifting demographics.

The government claims that the initiative aims to identify people who have relocated to Uttarakhand from other states and provide appropriate monitoring, especially in regions where criminal activity and unlawful residence may be on the increase.

Since the state administration thinks the problem is more severe in the plains, that area has been the drive’s primary focus.

The verification campaign is in response to claims made by some local communities that the number of members of minority groups has dramatically grown in certain areas of the state, raising worries about potential negative effects on Uttarakhand’s demographics.

CM Dhami has emphasized that the Uttarakhand Police should concentrate on incidents of “demographic change, religious conversion, and love jihad,” and they have already started putting this command into practice.