Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Sunday accused the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) of deliberately causing political turmoil in the State and creating hurdles in the way of development. Addressing a rally at Ghorabandha in East Singhbhum, Das said that JMM’s Executive President Hemant Soren toppled the Arjun Munda Government only to prevent it from framing a local’s policy. Soren, he added, had promised to frame a local’s policy within three months of coming to power but failed to deliver on his promises.
“Instead of framing a policy for the locals, he (Soren) sold Jharkhand’s sand to Mumbai-based companies. Their Government scrapped nine tribal languages from Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC), which clearly shows their intentions,” Das said.
The Chief Minister is set to contest against his former Cabinet minister Saryu Roy in Jamshedpur East – said to be Das’ stronghold—in the second phase of elections here on December 7. Das has been addressing rallies across Jharkhand since the announcement of elections on November 1, but the contest in his home turf is turning out to be the hottest one in the tribal State. Das waged a war of words against JMM and Hemant Soren, accusing the party and its important leaders of amassing tribal properties, even before the elections were announced in Jharkhand. On the other hand, JMM has extended its support to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Minister turned independent candidate Saryu Roy for dethroning Das.
On Sunday, Das accused JMM patriarch Shibu Soren and his son Hemant Soren of not giving due respect to the activists of Jharkhand Movement. He said that the JMM Governments in the past did not take any initiative to preserve tribal culture or empower the tribal community. “They only talk about tribal uplift and rights. Paradox is that they did nothing for the tribal community when they were in power,” said Das.
Accusing the JMM of dividing the people of state as ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’, he lashed out at Hemant Soren for his alleged remarks on how the JMM was only relying on tribal votes. “Such statements do not suit a political party. We, in the BJP, believe in holistic development and taking all the 3.29 crore people of Jharkhand along with us in the path of development,” Das said.
The Chief Minister said that women empowerment, preservation of the tribal culture and livelihood were among the key agenda of the BJP in Jharkhand. The BJP Government, soon after coming to power in 2014, framed the local’s policy, which enabled the recruitment of teachers in Jharkhand schools, he added. “We have recruited 31,000 teachers to provide quality education to the children of the State.
The BJP Government, he said, worked for betterment of farmers and brought schemes for empowerment of girls. Schemes such as the Laxmi Ladli Yojana and Sukanya Yojana were supporting young girls to aspire for their dream jobs and ensuring a safe and successful future for them, he added. The Government also launched schemes to provide financial assistance to nearly 35 lakh farmers in Jharkhand. This scheme was over and above the Centre’s welfare schemes for farmers.
