BJP vocal about J’khand Adivasis but silent on violence-hit tribals of Manipur claims Soren

    Ramgarh/Bokaro (Jharkhand), Nov 12 (PTI) Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday attacked the BJP, claiming that the party has been talking about issues of Adivasis in Jharkhand, but it maintained silence on ethnic violence in Manipur, which affected the lives of tribals there.
    Addressing an election rally at Ramgarh, the JMM leader alleged that the agenda of the BJP is to divide the communities living harmoniously in the name of religion.
    “The BJP has been talking a lot about Adivasis of Jharkhand, pretending to be the only well-wishers of them. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other (BJP) leaders are tight-lipped about the Manipur violence. The lives of the tribals living there were affected by the violence,” Soren claimed.
    Over 200 people were killed in clashes between members of the Meitei and Kuki communities of Manipur since May last year. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had visited the state after the violence broke out, but Modi did not.
    The BJP has been wooing the tribals of Jharkhand for the assembly elections. According to the 2011 Census, Jharkhand has a total population of 32,988,134. Of them, 26.21 per cent (8,645,042) are tribals.
    Soren said that the chief ministers of Assam and Uttar Pradesh, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Yogi Adityanath respectively, are campaigning in Jharkhand attacking the JMM-led government.
    “They should tell the people of Jharkhand what they did for the poor, farmers, labourers and women in their respective states. Our government has launched a number of welfare schemes for the people,” the JMM executive president said.
    He cited several welfare schemes of his government.
    The CM asserted that nearly half of his tenure was dedicated to save lives of people during the COVID-19 pandemic and his government has made all arrangements to bring back lakhs of migrant workers struck in various states due to the lockdown.
    In another meeting in the Bermo assembly segment in Bokaro district, Soren alleged that debt-ridden farmers died by suicide under Prime Minister Modi's regime, since it did nothing for the poor.
    However, loans of the rich and industrialists were waived, he claimed.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)