Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (November 13, 2024) targeted the Chief Minister Hemant Soren-led government in Jharkhand over alleged illegal infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals in the State. Mr. Modi said tribal daughters were cheated in the name of marriage and their land was being snatched. He also accused the Congress of dividing the country in the name of caste census.
Sharing his own experience in Jharkhand, Mr. Modi said wherever he went in the past few days, the biggest concern was infiltration.
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“Jharkhandi pride and identity is your strength. What happens if this identity is lost? Statistics show that the number of tribals in the Santhal region has almost halved. What will happen if the number of tribals continues to decrease like this? Your water, forests and land will be taken over by others,” Mr. Modi said in Sarath Assembly constituency, where the BJP has fielded Randhir Kumar Singh against Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s (JMM) Uday Shankar Singh.
He added that Santhal region will create electoral history this time and the JMM-Congress front was sure to be wiped out.
Mr. Modi warned of a big conspiracy to change the identity of Jharkhand. He said during the JMM-Congress government, every effort was made to turn the “infiltrators into permanent residents”.
“JMM and Congress have snatched your water, forests, and land; they have stolen your sand and coal. They stole your children’s papers and your government jobs and gave them to their ‘favourite people’. Whatever was stolen was rightfully yours. They ruined the future of your children for their own future,” Mr. Modi alleged.
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He charged the Soren government with preparing all required “documents for the infiltrators overnight”. “Tribal daughters were cheated in the name of marriage and their land was snatched. These intruders snatched away your employment and your bread. Look at the attitude of the government, the JMM government told the court that there was no infiltration in Jharkhand,” Mr. Modi said.
Launching a sharp attack over the issue of nepotism, Mr. Modi said be it the JMM, Congress or Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD), their leaders were only concerned about the future of their families and remained preoccupied with their family’s welfare.
Raising apprehensions on the intention of the Congress, Mr. Modi said the Congress wants to end “Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/Other Backward Class reservation”.
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Besides, he promised to provide a permanent house to every family that lives in a hut. “Also, Modi is going to make your electricity bill ‘zero’. We will give ₹75,000 to ₹80,000 to every household for installing solar panels. The electricity they generate will leave households with zero power bills and when there is surplus electricity, the government will buy it,” Mr. Modi said.
Later, he addressed another rally in Godda Assembly seat, where the BJP’s Amit Kumar Mandal is locked in direct contest against the RJD’s Sanjay Prasad Yadav.
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Mr. Modi alleged that parties like the Congress, RJD and JMM have ruled Santhal Pargana for a long time and they have only given the people “migration, poverty and unemployment”.
Published - November 13, 2024 04:19 pm IST
