Jharkhand: Opposition begins statewide agitation against Hemant Soren's govt

RANCHI: Opposition BJP on Monday kicked off a parallel statewide stir called 'akrosh rally' against the UPA government and CM Hemant Soren to cite 'misgovernance' amid ongoing stir by the ruling camp against the BJP central government.
The political slugfest further intensified later in the day following Supreme Court's verdict in favour of Soren over the issue of maintainability of PIL against him in the high court over illegal mining issue and money laundering slur, which is currently being probed by the ED at a rapid pace.
The recent raids by IT on Congress lawmakers had further widened the rift between the ruling and opposition camp.
On Monday, stirs were held at across 12 blocks in 10 districts in the state. Tomorrow, it will be held in 11 blocks across eight districts. The stirs will be on till November 13 in the first phase, said BJP office bearers.
Former CM and BJP's leader of legislative party Babulal Marandi led the stir in Gandey in Giridih district. He said, "Fate of Hemant Soren will be like that of former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad whose entire life is now shuffling between courts and jails after being convicted in fodder scam. Since Soren government came in 2019, it has plunged Jharkhand into lawlessness, joblessness, and natural resources are being looted under the state sponsored corruption."
State BJP president Deepak Prakash was in Namkum stir-site. Snubbing Soren of running away from ED probe, he said, "While he talks about Satyameva Jayate, he is terrified to appear before ED for questioning. If he is not at fault, he must help ED curb the corruption in the state."
UPA on the other hand held a rally outside Raj Bhavan for the second time in less than a week and plans to continue it to block 'misuse' of central agencies.