Jharkhand CM accuses Oppn of 'hatching conspiracy' to topple JMM govt

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday accused the opposition in the state of "hatching conspiracy" to topple his government since its formation in 2019.

Soren was addressing a rally at Kochatand ground in Telo village under Chandrapura block in Bokaro district to seek votes for ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate Bebi Devi for the September 5 bye-election to Dumri assembly seat.

In a veiled attack on the BJP, he said, “The opposition has been creating obstacles to prevent the government from functioning smoothly. Sometimes, they (opposition) bring the news of horse trading of MLAs and sometimes they mislead people through CBI and ED raids so that the government cannot do its work.” Despite such circumstances, the state government has been "performing well' for the welfare of people, he claimed.

Without taking the name of BJP, Soren blamed the opposition for creating "political obstacles" in implementing the 1932 Khatian-based domicile policy and 27 per cent reservation to OBC.

“Being a single-engine government, we have passed bills for implementation of the domicile policy and 27 per cent reservation to OBC. But, the opposition created obstacles,” he said.

When Jharkhand was separated from Bihar, there was a 27 per cent reservation to OBC, he claimed.

"But they (opposition) brought down the reservation from 27 per cent to 14 per cent. And, when the double engine government was in power, it brought the 1985 Khatian-based domicile policy instead of 1932,” Soren alleged.

BJP leaders, often, use the term 'double-engine government' when their party is in power both in a state and at the Centre.

"Now the 1932-based policy will be passed when our double-engine government will take charge in 2024," Soren said, exuding confidence that the opposition bloc I.N.D.I.A, of which his JMM is a part, would defeat the BJP at the Centre in the next year's Lok Sabha polls.

The state government has been providing 90-95 per cent of jobs to indigenous people, he said.

“Recently, around 10,500 appointment letters from private companies were distributed among the youth. Of them, 9,500 belong to Adivasi, Dalit and backward communities,” he said.

The bye-election to the Dumri assembly segment was necessitated after the death of JMM MLA Jagarnath Mahto in April this year after a prolonged illness.

In the 2019 assembly polls, Mahto had defeated AJSU Party’s Yashoda Devi by a margin of 34,288 votes.

Ruling JMM’s Bebi Devi is contesting the bye-election as a nominee of the I.N.D.I.A bloc, while AJSU Party’s Yashoda is in the fray as an NDA candidate.

Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM has fielded Abdul Mobin Rizv as its nominee for the bypoll, while there are three independent candidates.

The counting of votes for the bye-election will be held on September 8.