BJP will form govt with full majority in Jharkhand: Shah

Union home minister Amit Shah said on Saturday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would unseat the INDIA bloc from power and form a full majority government in Jharkhand ahead of the year-end assembly elections in the state.

Addressing BJP workers at the meeting of the extended state executive committee at Prabhat Tara ground, Shah criticised the Hemant Soren government for alleged scams worth several hundred crores and changing demographics and dwindling tribal population in the state due to the influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

“People of the Congress, Hemant Soren ji... I can read the writing on the wall that the BJP will form the government in Jharkhand after the 2024 assembly elections with full majority... I thank the people of Jharkhand for giving nine out of 14 Lok Sabha polls. The lotus bloomed in 52 assembly segments,” said Shah, asking the party workers who had assembled from across the state to pledge to throw the JMM-led government out of power.

Criticising the Congress, Shah said it was difficult to comprehend the “arrogance” of the party, and its leader Rahul Gandhi “was not able to digest the loss in the Lok Sabha elections”.

“Someone getting arrogant after victory is understandable. But why has Congress become so arrogant after having lost the election? You saw the behaviour of Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha. Modi Ji is the first person in 60 years to have been elected PM for the third consecutive term. The NDA won a clear majority, and the BJP alone got more seats than the combined strength of the INDIA bloc. BJP got more seats in this LS elections than Congress’s combined numbers in 2014, 2019, and 2024,” said Shah.

Underlining that the Hemant Soren government is behind the ongoing “land jihad” and “love jihad” by illegal infiltrators from Bangladesh, leading to changes in demographics in the state, the Union home minister said once in power, BJP would come out with a White Paper on the state’s population.

“Infiltrators are marrying tribal women and buying land, which is changing the demographics. The tribal population is shrinking in Jharkhand. If there is one place where the tribal population is reducing, it’s Jharkhand. You make BJP government in the state, and we will bring out a White Paper on demographics and the population, their land as well as the reservation of the tribals,” said Shah.

Shah further alleged that the Hemant Soren government was one of the most corrupt governments in the state and had been engaging in scams worth several hundred crores, including, land, army land, mining, and transfer postings scam. Criticising Congress over corruption, Shah said the party would surely give a ticket to jailed minister Alamgir Alam or else he would spill the beans.

“ ₹30 crore was recovered from the residence of the PA of a minister. Whose money was it? I can confidently tell you that Congress would again field that minister, or else he would expose others,” said Shah.

Reacting to the allegations, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) spokesperson Manoj Pandey said that being the Union home minister, Amit Shah should take responsibility for any infiltration.

“If Bangladeshis are infiltrating the state, he should take responsibility. Instead of making wild allegations, Shah should have spoken about the core issues related to the tribals and OBCs. He should have spoken about why his governor is sitting on bills to provide a 1932 Khatiyan-based domicile, increase OBC reservation, and give separate Sarna codes to tribals. They are disconnected from the ground realities. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, they led in over 60 seats but were reduced to 25 in the assembly elections. This time, they led in 52, so they would be reduced to single digits,” added Pandey.

Meanwhile, later in the day, Shah visited the BJP state headquarters in Ranchi and held a meeting with senior party leaders, parliamentarians, and legislators in the presence of election in-charges Shivraj Chouhan and Himanta Biswa Sarma and chalked out strategy and party’s roadmap for the upcoming assembly elections.