Ramgarh: Assam chief minister and BJP's co-in-charge for the Jharkhand election, Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Monday ridiculed Hemant Soren govt's housing scheme ‘Abua Awas Yojana' by terming it as "Babua Loot Scheme". He claimed that beneficiaries of the Jharkhand govt's scheme were being forced to pay bribes of up to Rs 30,000 to corrupt officials to get the scheme sanctioned.
Speaking at an election rally in Ramgarh's Kuju on the last day of campaigning for the Nov 20 polls, Sarma criticised the Hemant govt for not providing sand to the poor families for building their homes. "It is impossible to build homes without sand but the state govt wants them to be built without sand. Police here are seizing sand which is being ferried in rickshaws," he alleged.
While seeking votes for Ajsu-P candidate for Mandu assembly segment, Nirmal Mahto, Sarma also took a dig at Hemant and his wife Kalpana, saying, "At election rallies, they talk about the Maiya Samman Yojana but in reality, they do not respect mothers. I came from Assam and met the mothers of those aspirants who died while trying to pass the physical verification tests to become excise constables in the scorching heat. Hemant did not wipe the tears off the eyes of these mothers but instead, he is trying to gain sympathy in the name of the yojana," he claimed.
"This govt did nothing for four years and began launching new schemes just before the election. Pensions for widows and senior citizens have been withheld while the monthly stipend for the daughters and bahus have started fights at homes," he added.