Mail News Service
Jamshedpur, Mar 23: The BJP has strongly condemned Jharkhand Minister Deepak Birua’s statement in the assembly, where he referred to residents of 86 settlements in Jamshedpur as encroachers. The party accused the JMM-Congress government of betraying the poor, Dalit, tribal and backward-class communities, calling the statement an insult to lakhs of people.
At a meeting chaired by Burma Mines Mandal President Suraj Singh, BJP leaders from seven mandals of Jamshedpur East criticized the government’s “double character”, alleging that it had broken promises made during elections. They pointed out that JMM MLA Kalpana Murmu Soren and Congress leaders had assured ownership rights to the residents before coming to power but are now labelling them as encroachers.
BJP leaders questioned, “If these settlements are illegal, why has the government provided police stations, schools, hospitals and other facilities here?” They emphasized that these settlements have existed for decades and that the BJP government had taken steps in 2005 and 2018 to secure land rights for the residents.
The BJP warned the government not to test the patience of the people, stating that if ownership rights are not granted, thousands of residents will protest alongside BJP. They demanded an apology from Minister Deepak Birua and an official announcement of land ownership rights.
BJP leaders present at the meeting included Bablu Gop, Pappu Upadhyay, Vikas Sharma, Jeevan Sahu and Yuvraj Singh.
