RANCHI: Lashing out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren on Thursday accused the Central government of targeting non-BJP governments and suppressing the dissenting voice through misuse of institutions across the country.
In his reply to the House on the last of the day of the budget session of the assembly amidst sloganeering, and later a walkout, by BJP legislators, Soren hit out at the saffron party and the Centre over a host of issues, including the court verdict on Rahul Gandhi, Centre-state relationship, ‘misuse’ of agencies and inflation, besides his government’s stand over the contentious domicile and employment policy of the state.
“It is difficult to comprehend whether we are in Amritkaal (75 years of Independence as being observed by the Centre) or Apatkaal (state of emergency). The country is passing through a strange period. Hundreds of FIRs have been registered (in Delhi) and several persons have been arrested for putting up posters. How can that be explained? Hundreds of posters have been put up against us here which have bold pictures of the PM, home minister, and other senior BJP leaders. What should I do with them? Never have we seen such a brazen period in the country since Independence,” said Soren.
“They have put this country in the hands of a select few. When someone raises questions about it, they misuse the institutions to silence all dissenting voices. When I asked for the ₹1.3 lakh crore outstanding dues from the Centre, they unleased CBI, and ED against us,” the chief minister said.
Soren, who is also the working president of the JMM and leads the JMM-Congress-RJD combine government, described the court verdict on former Congress president Rahul Gandhi as unjustified.
“We can have differences in principled opinion. But it does not mean we would go after each other’s life. Our country is called the ‘mother of democracy’, but it seems the ‘father of power’ is trampling it,” said Soren.
Soon after the news of Rahul Gandhi’s reached, Congress legislators trooped into the well accusing the BJP and its government of acting like a ‘dictator’. In protest, BJP legislators, too, stormed into the well raising slogans against Rahul. With ruling JMM legislators too entering the well extending support to the Congress, the speaker adjourned the proceedings twice. Amidst the din, Speaker rushed through important agendas, including passing a bill.
With both sides refusing to budge, Speaker requested the chief minister to give his reply well beyond the scheduled time. The BJP legislators continued their protest as CM started his reply, accusing the government of changing its stand on employment policy, and later walked out.
Congress workers led by the state president Rajesh Thakur also hit the streets against the court verdict and staged a protest march from the party headquarters to Shaheed Chowk against the ‘dictatorial regime’ of the BJP.
