Ranchi/Dhanbad: Chief minister Hemant Soren heightened his attack on the BJP-led NDA govt at the Centre on Wednesday by accusing it of eyeing to abolish reservation and end the state's rights. He also claimed that the PM Narendra Modi-led dispensation couldn't even give pensions to its employees. On the contrary, the Jharkhand govt has re-introduced the old pension scheme in the interest of lakhs of state govt employees as promised to the state and its people, he said.
Soon after casting their votes in Ranchi, Hemant and MLA wife, Kalpana Soren, hit the campaign trail once again in different directions to take on the BJP-led NDA's poll blitzkrieg. Being the star campaigners for the entire INDIA bloc in the state, the Soren couple are walking the extra mile to counter the opposition's narrative. While Hemant held three rallies in Baghmara, Sindri and Mandu assemble segments, Kalpana held fort in the Santhal Pargana division, a tribal-dominated pocket, which BJP is aggressively eyeing to foray.
On Wednesday, PM Narendra Modi, too, addressed two rallies from Santhal Pargana during which he lashed out against the state govt for patronizing Bangladeshi infiltration for vote-bank politics and threatening the existence of tribals in the state.
Hemant hit back at BJP during a rally in Baghmara where he claimed that BJP is conspiring to abolish reservation by bringing in delimitation. He said, "The RSS chief had suggested to the prime minister in 2015 to end reservations. They claimed that they would abolish reservations. They are saying they will change the Constitution, too. If they come to power, they will conduct delimitation in Jharkhand and end our rights."
The chief minister further said while BJP was aiming to loot the state, his alliance govt was working for different strata of society by restoring their rights. "While Jharkhand is providing pensions to its employees, the Union govt is not. The pension funds of the employees are being invested in the markets. You can see the unstable condition of the stock market today."
The JMM leader also claimed that his govt was the first to introduce the universal pension scheme for all. "Before 2019 when BJP was in office, only a select few received pensions. After our govt came, we provisioned pensions for all. Today, there is no village where someone is deprived of his or her pension," he claimed.
He also noted that for the first time in 20 years, a non-BJP govt has successfully completed a five-year term in the state. "The success of our alliance govt has made them nervous, leading to an early election. However, they don't realize that our alliance govt will come back in Jharkhand," Hemant added.