Chatra (Jharkhand):Union Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday said that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had created Jharkhand and the Narendra Modi dispensation is taking it forward. Campaigning for the first phase of vote in the Jharkhand Assembly polls, ended on Thursday evening. Jharkhand will vote in five-phased elections beginning this Saturday and the counting of votes will be held on December 23.

In the last day of the campaigning, BJP president Amit Shah addressed two rallies at Chatra and Garwah and criticised the Congress for delaying abrogation of Article 370 and the Ram temple dispute resolution.

“The state could not be created when Congress was at power in the centre despite the sacrifices of thousands of youth. It was only after Atal ji came to power that Jharkhand was created. Since 2014, PM Narendra Modi has given shape to the state and CM Raghubar Das is taking it forward,” Shah said during a rally.

In the manifesto for the Assembly polls, released last week, the BJP has promised to provide job or self-employment opportunities to one member of the each BPL (below poverty line) family

Speaking at an election rally, Shah said that Jharkhand had witnessed large scale corruption during the previous governments but there is not a single charge of graft against the Raghubar Das government in the state.

He said the JMM, Congress and the RJD are fighting the state Assembly election in an alliance. "I would like to ask Hemant Babu (Soren) what was the stand of Congress when youth of Jharkhand were fighting for a separate state."

The Home minister claimed that the law and order situation has improved in the state and the "Raghubar Das government has buried Naxalism 20-feet under the earth in Jharkhand.

The BJP president that the Das government has provided electricity to 38-lakh households in the state.

(With IANS Inputs)