Ranchi: Virtually launching the campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Jharkhand, BJP national president J P Nadda on Saturday attacked Chief Minister Hemant Soren accusing him of causing the most damage to tribals despite being a tribal and being neck-deep in corruption.
Addressing a rally here, Nadda claimed that ED, CBI and other agencies are "chasing the Soren government" as it is patronising land, sand and other mafias. "The enthusiasm of people proves that they have taken a pledge to help the lotus bloom here again. Corruption has grown exponentially under Soren. The Jharkhand chief minister has been indulging in vote bank politics," Nadda told a public rally here.
The rally marks the closure of the BJP's Sanklap Yatra with a resolution to free Jharkhand from "hunger, corruption and misrule". "He (Soren) talked about tribals and sought their votes, but caused the maximum damage to the interest of tribal people. For vote bank politics, he has given consent to religious conversions in Jharkhand. His vote bank should remain intact, no matter where the culture of the tribal people goes," the BJP president claimed.
People of Jharkhand need to understand that when the BJP comes to power, it serves the people but when JMM and Congress are in power, they become busy filling their own coffers, and those who join them are hounded by ED and CBI," he claimed. Hitting out at Soren for his alleged appeasement policy, he sought to know why no action was taken when temples were vandalised.
"The police have become bhakshak' (oppressor) from 'rakshak' (saviour)... Jungle Raaj is prevailing in Jharkhand, the veteran BJP leader said. He claimed that under the BJP rule, left-wing extremism was in control but it has increased manifold at present. Soren, the executive president of JMM, became the chief minister after a coalition led by his party defeated the BJP in the 2019 assembly elections. The Congress and the RJD are the alliance partners of the JMM.
The JMM-led government in Jharkhand is patronising land, sand and other mafias, Nadda alleged. Referring to a case of alleged irregularities in a mining case, he asked people whether they had seen any chief minister who got a tender in his name and dared Soren to prove him wrong. Speaking about various projects of the central government, Nadda claimed that their implementation is slow in Jharkhand.
He said that in 2014, the length of national highways in the state was 2,402 km which is 7,791 km now. Road construction work worth Rs one lakh crore is being undertaken in Jharkhand, Nadda said. The Deoghar AIIMS was constructed at Rs 1,100 crore in four years and the railway station and the airport in Ranchi were developed, he said. (PTI)
