Jharkhand CM Takes A Dig At Prime Minister Modi, Calls Covid Meeting As 'PM's Mann Ki Baat'

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren claimed the Prime Minister did not listen to him during the conversation over the phone and that it was just a “monologue” from him.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren

Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren held a telephonic meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday over the Covid situation in the state and after the phone call Soren took a dig at the PM citing the conversation as PM's 'Mann Ki Baat', instead of business.

Soren's reaction came after PM Modi spoke to him and the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Telangana about the COVID-19 situation on Thursday.

"Today the respected Prime Minister called. He only spoke his "Mann Ki Baat". It would have been better if he would have talked business and heard the issues," the Jharkhand chief minister said in a tweet.

According to PTI, Soren was unhappy as he was not allowed to present the issues concerning his state before PM Modi and instead, it was only the prime minister who talked about the COVID-19 situation.

The chief minister has been critical of the Centre in the past over handling of several issues, including migrant workers. 

Hence, the Jharkhand Chief Minister called the conversation as 'Mann Ki Baat' which is the monthly radio programme of the Prime Minister.

Jharkhand reported 133 COVID-19 fatalities on Thursday, taking the number of deaths due to the viral disease in the state to 3,479, while 6,974 cases pushed the state''s infection tally to 2,70,089.

The mortality rate in the state remains higher at 1.28 per cent against the national mortality rate of 1.10 per cent. According to a bulletin issued by the state health department, the recovery rate of COVID-19 patients is 76.26 per cent in Jharkhand as against the national average of 82 per cent