New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to launch a statewide protest against the Hemant Soren government over charges of corruption in Jharkhand from Monday, party's state president Deepak Prakash said. The district-level agitation will start from Ranchi and culminate in Dumka.
Addressing a press conference, Prakash, as quoted by news agency ANI said, "The present Hemant government is the most corrupt government. And BJP is fighting from the block level to the state level. Not only the mining department but all the departments in the present government have a long record of corruption. We are getting a lot of people's support in agitation against the corrupt practices of the state government. The block-wise agitation concluded yesterday and now a district-level agitation will start from tomorrow."
Lashing out at CM Soren for "presenting himself as a freedom fighter" during Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons in the mining case, Prakash said that it is shameful that a chief minister is being probed due to alleged corruption.
"ED summoned and questioned Hemant Soren. But Soren is presenting as if he were a freedom fighter or Jharkhand fighter. This is a shame for the state that an officiating Chief Minister has been questioned by ED due to corrupt practices," he said, adding, "There is black marketing of food grains given to poor under food security scheme. The power supply in the state is the worst. Poor students in the state are deprived of stipend."
Notably, the ED had summoned Soren in connection with an alleged money laundering and illegal mining case in the state, as well as on the alleged contravention of Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The ED began its investigation on the basis of an FIR filed against Pankaj Mishra, a political representative of Soren.
This comes months after the Election Commission sent a report to Governor Ramesh Bais recommending the disqualification of Soren as a member of state legislative assembly for allegedly holding a mining lease.