Congress blames former Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das, family for prevailing poor condition of state

Jamshedpur, Oct 29 (PTI) All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary-cum-spokesman Alok Sharma on Tuesday accused former Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das of failing to deliver during his 25 years tenure and criticised him for fielding a family member in the upcoming election.

Purnima Das Sahu, the daughter-in-law of Das, now the governor of Odisha, is in the fray from Jamshedpur East.

After failing to deliver as a legislator, minister and chief minister, Das and his family did not have any right to seek the support of people of Jamshedpur, which had enough potential to grow as Delhi or the IT sectors of southern states, Sharma said at a press conference here.

The Congress leader accused Das of serving only his family's interests and amassing substantial property during his tenure, while doing nothing for Jamshedpur.

He said people from other states used to come to Jamshedpur for employment four decades ago, but now the youth are migrating elsewhere in search of jobs, blaming the Das family for the city's decline.

Big industries like Incab, Tata Agrico, Tayo were shut while Tata Hitachi shifted its base from Jamshedpur but he (Das) remained a mute spectator even when he was in power, the Congress leader alleged.

The Congress leader emphasised that the people of Jamshedpur and Jharkhand are aware of the misdeeds of Das' family, which have even been noted in Odisha Raj Bhavan, referring indirectly to an incident involving Das's son and Raj Bhavan staff few months ago.

He accused the family of operating like a gang, accumulating wealth and extending their influence in other states.

Sharma claimed that the upcoming election is a contest between the "Gang of Parivar" and Congress candidate Dr. Ajoy Kumar, who has an excellent track record as an IPS officer and parliamentarian.

He criticised Das for the myriad problems that have arisen in the city over the past two and a half decades due to his non-performance, stating that an IT park should have been established in a city once flourishing under Tata, but no initiative was taken during his administration. PTI BS MNB