Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren announces Rs 1L annually in next term, takes dig at BJP

Ranchi, August 24: Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren made a big announcement keeping in sight the ensuing assembly polls in the state while ripping into the BJP at a public function in Hazaribagh on Saturday.

At the function in Hazaribagh held to mark transfer of money to the accounts of women under the Jharkhand Mukhyamantri Maiyan Samman Yojana (JMMSY),Soren said that if our government is formed again in the state, every family will be given financial assistance of up to one lakh rupees annually. This amount will reach the account directly under the DBT scheme.

Soren transferred an amount of one thousand each to the accounts of more than 13 lakh 81 thousand women of six districts of North Chotanagpur Division – Hazaribagh, Chatra, Koderma, Bokaro, Dhanbad and Giridih.

He said that our government is taking every possible step to make the weaker families of the state financially self-reliant.

Under the JMMSY, while 45 lakh women between 21 to 40 years of age are being provided help of 12 thousand rupees annually, more than 35 lakh elderly people above 50 years of age have been linked to the pension scheme.

He then accused the BJP of spreading poison’ in society under the pretext of religion, caste, love jihad, and flood jihad.

He also claimed that there is a conspiracy underway to undermine the reservations for Scheduled Tribes (ST), Scheduled Castes (SC), and Other Backward Classes (OBC).

Soren said, “BJP imports leaders from Assam, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, as its leaders here are not able to handle Jharkhand. These leaders are spreading poison in the society in the name of Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christianity, forward and backwards.”

Hitting out at Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma without taking his name, Soren said, “Recently a BJP CM named the flood that his state was facing, as ‘flood jihad’. Interestingly, they are now finding Hindu-Muslim, forward, backwards, tribal and Dalit even in water.”

“Sometimes, they say love jihad, Shiksha (education) jihad and now flood jihad. Beware of such people,” Soren said.

The CM further alleged that a conspiracy is going on to snatch the reservation of tribals and Dalits.

A Bharat bandh call was given on Wednesday in protest against this, he said.

“In a much-planned manner, the government (central) is preparing to usurp the rights of tribal, Dalits, OBCs and minority people in the country,” Soren alleged.

He further alleged that the previous double-engine government did not do anything for the social security of the people.

“Jharkhand is one of the backward states. Society security should have been the utmost priority after the formation of the state. But our opposition remained focused on the security of businessmen without paying any attention to social security,” he said.

He said that his government is committed to the development of the state and claimed that he would take Jharkhand at par with the development of Delhi and Mumbai in his next tenure.