BJP again resorting to 'old tactic' of poaching ruling parties' MLAs: Hemant Soren

Dumka (Jharkhand), Aug 27 (PTI) Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday hit out at the BJP, alleging that it was again resorting to the “old tactic” of poaching legislators of ruling parties.

Soren’s remarks came hours after JMM MLA and former chief minister Champai Soren announced in New Delhi that he would join the BJP.

“The opposition has again started its ‘sarkar todo abhiyan’ and ‘vidhayak todo abhiyan’ (break the government and poach the MLAs campaign) as it did during the Lok Sabha elections.

“They (BJP) are bound to get a befitting reply from people in the upcoming assembly polls in Jharkhand as the party did in the Lok Sabha elections,” Soren said while addressing a government function in Dumka district.

Earlier in the day, Champai Soren told reporters in the national capital that he would join the BJP along with his son on August 30.

The chief minister alleged that BJP and its leaders indulge in “divisive politics” in the name of religion and communities.

Criticising BJP’s ‘Mila Kya’ (Did You Get?) campaign, Hemant Soren said the saffron camp "could not digest" the number of schemes his government launched for the welfare of the poor and downtrodden.

The Jharkhand BJP had on Sunday launched the campaign to “expose” the “unfulfilled” promises of the government.

“The opposition questions us about jobs. We have provided over 30,000 appointments, while recruitments on 35,000-40,000 posts are under process. But, they (BJP) did not give any job in the past 20 years,” the CM alleged.

“Recruitments have been discontinued in sectors like defence, railways and banking,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, Hemant Soren on Tuesday transferred the first installment of Rs 1,000 to the accounts of women beneficiaries under the ‘Jharkhand Mukhyamantri Maiyan Samman Yojana’ (JMMSY).

A total of Rs 73 crore was transferred to the accounts of 7.32 lakh beneficiaries in six districts – Dumka, Sahibganj, Godda, Jamtara, Pakur and Deoghar.

He said the Jharkhand government provided universal pension to 40 lakh people of the state, which were “a mere 15 lakh” during the BJP regime.

“The previous BJP government had deleted 11 lakh ration (PDS) accounts, while we provided an additional 20 lakh ration accounts. Our government will also provide the ‘Abua Awas’ to around 20 lakh people in the next five to six years,” Hemant Soren said.

The chief minister said his government has also hiked the limit of free units of electricity to 200 units.

“We have also decided to waive the power dues of those who are not in the bracket of income tax,” he said. PTI SAN RBT