Jharkhand Chief Minister and JMM chief Hemant Soren hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday, terming the party’s promises “lollipop” to trap the voters.
“They (BJP) say that they will give cylinder in ₹500. For so long Assam’s CM has been roaming around here, ask him what is the price of cylinder in Assam. In Bihar their government is there, ask them the price of cylinder there, ask them the price of cylinder in UP, and here they will give for 500? This is the jhumla, they are just dangling a lollipop in front of you to trap you…Beware of them, they are very cunning,” he said during a public meeting in Deoghar.
Criticising the BJP further, he said that prices have sharply risen under the BJP-led government in the centre.
“I read before itself how the prices have risen so much that one family went into so much debt that they could not pay the money back. Then the family, their kid, the wife and husband died by eating poison,” Soren said.
He further said that the BJP constantly does politics of caste and religion, despite their politicians themselves saying the contrary.
“Their leaders themselves say that the vote should be given not on caste but on development, and they are the people who only do politics of caste and religion,” Soren added.
Earlier, a row erupted over BJP’s ‘objectionable’ social media posts, as the Election Commission of India on Sunday directed the Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to direct the BJP to take down the ‘objectionable’ post from party social media platforms after the complaints from Indian National Congress (INC) and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).
The video showed the house of a JMM supporter with a banner of JMM Party. It also showed a poster with a photo resembling CM Hemant Soren, with the caption “pure Jharkhand ka kaya palat kardenge”. The video shows hundreds of people from a particular community entering the house unannounced with the intention to forcefully reside there.
It was alleged in the complaint that video released by the BJP Jharkhand is rife with baseless allegations and falsehoods to unduly influence voters by creating feeling of hatred and enmity against JMM and its leaders.
The first phase of the Jharkhand Assembly elections concluded with voting being completed in 43 of 81 assembly seats on November 13.
Elections for the remaining 38 seats in Jharkhand will take place on November 20. Votes will be counted on November 23. Campaigning for the second phase of assembly polls across 38 seats ended at 5 PM on Monday.