Raghubar Das: Anti-government protests in state are sponsored

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das

Dubbing all anti-government protests across the state as "sponsored", Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das has ruled out any resentment among tribals against his government on land issues and said the maoists and other forces are hampering the development works of the government.

In an interaction with media persons here, he also claimed that the BJP would win all the 14 parliamentary and 60 out of 81 assembly seats in 2019 elections to Lok Sabha and the Assembly.

"Opposition has no issues. They are raking up the issues he for the sake of publicity. Their protest is limited on newspapers only. All these protests are 100 per cent sponsored," Das said.

"Yes, 100 per cent...200 per cent sponsored. It's planned," he said when asked about what he meant by sponsored protests.

"What I am saying is saying from my experience of more than three years of governance. There are some anti national forces which are stopping the state's development. They want the poor remain poor so that there could be religious conversions. Now we have passed a law against conversion. Their businesses have been shut," he said.

The Chief Minister was responding to queries about protests by tribal community in the state against Amendments to the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 made by the Assembly in 2017 and the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act (CNT) and the Santhal Parghana Tenancy Act (SPT).

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Congress have been protesting against these bills and have been accusing the government of diverting huge tracts of land from the tribals to industries.

"No...nothing. These are not any issues at all. There is no such resentment among tribals of the state. I am not worried at all," he said when asked about the impact of the protests against government and added that his government is providing four time compensations to the tribals for the lands.

"People themselves are coming forward to give their lands," he claimed.

He said that tribals of the states are taking benefits of the central as well as the state-funded schemes.

"They are also getting gas cylinders through Ujjawala schemes, homes through housing schemes and they are opening their bank accounts. This is not the Jharkhand which earlier used to be. The tribal youth of the state are using smart mobile phones and they are exploring the world now," the Chief Minister said.

Asked about who were sponsoring the protests, he said: "Those anti-national forces which are against development and also against Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

"There are some anti-national forces and the maoists, whose sole aim is to hamper the development works. They are trying to mislead the people. They do not want the state to be developed. They want that tribals remain poor and keep begging," he said.

Referring to JMM, he said the "family" party was doing politics in the name of tribals but the people have become cautious now.

"They are not going to come under any influence. The leaders of Jharkhand Namdhari Party (a nomeclature used by him for JMM) accumulated their own wealth and tribals remain poor," the Chief Minister said.

Das said the state remained undeveloped because earlier there was a weak government. "Today Jharkhand has a government with a strong Chief Minister. It's not a hapless government," he said.

He said in the last 70 years, the tribals of the state were deceived. Why the need for a separate state arose? If there had been development, why such a demand came up," he said.

The Chief Minister claimed that his government will contest the next Lok Sabha and state Assembly polls in the name of Modi and on the issues of development.

"After 67 years of independence there were only three medical colleges in the state. In last three-and-half years we have established five medical colleges. Two of them will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister on September 23. We are not lagging behind any state as far as construction of roads and their quality. By 2018 we will connect every household with electricity. We are just behind Gujarat and are at number two in economic growth rate.

"Jharkhand is changing. It is taking a new shape in development. This could happen due to the double engine of growth with BJP ruling both in centre and state. Our single point agenda is development," he said.

Asked about JMM and the Congress coming together to take on the BJP in the elections, he said, "In Jharkhand, there is no competitor to the BJP. They all will be cleaned up. We are going to win all the 14 Lok Sabha and 60 assembly seats."

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