DUMKA: Union home minister Amit Shah accused Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren Saturday of evading responsibility in checking infiltration even as he said work on border fencing with Bangladesh was on despite geographical challenges.
“While border fencing work continues, why aren’t local officials identifying the infiltrators now in our territory?” the BJP neta said at a rally in Dumka ahead of the second phase of polls on November 20 in which the saffron party has made influx a key plank. Shah slammed Soren for moving Supreme Court instead of implementing an HC order to investigate such infiltration.
Accusing Soren and his allies of pursuing appeasement politics, Shah said JMM and Congress planned to provide reservations in jobs and education to Muslims through “backdoor channels”.
Shah blamed the Soren govt for allowing infiltrators to marry tribal women and acquire their land. He also criticised Soren for aligning with Congress and RJD to stay in office, saying the CM “is driven by greed for power”.
Shah also sought to highlight BJP’s role in Jharkhand’s formation 24 years ago. “While Congress used force against those demanding the state, Atal Bihari Vajpayee fulfilled people’s aspirations by creating Jharkhand.”
Promising industrial development, Shah assured that BJP would ensure proper rehabilitation before displacing anyone for industrial projects. He emphasised that the mineral-rich state’s residents wouldn’t need to migrate for employment under BJP rule.
To connect with the tribal voters, Shah listed the Narendra Modi govt’s initiatives, including making Droupadi Murmu — a tribal and former Jharkhand governor — President and allocation of Rs 200 crore for 10 tribal museums featuring Sido Kanhu statues. He contrasted the previous government’s Rs 28,000 crore allocation for tribal development with the current government’s Rs 1.33 lakh crore.
On security, Shah claimed significant progress had been made in combating Naxalism under Modi’s leadership and predicted the total elimination of the rebels by 2025.
