Illegal immigrants changing demography, JMM govt not acting: Amit Shah

Addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Vijay Sankalp rally in Deoghar after laying the foundation stone of a nano fertilizer plant, Shah said the population of tribal people in the Santhal Parganas have declined to around 24% from 35% earlier.

Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday accused Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren of not acting against illegal migrants from Bangladesh due to vote bank politics, describing the state government as the “most corrupt” in the country.

Union home ainister Amit Shah speaks during 'Vijay Sankalp Rally' in Deoghar district. (PTI)

Addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Vijay Sankalp rally in Deoghar after laying the foundation stone of a nano fertilizer plant, Shah said the population of tribal people in the Santhal Parganas have declined to around 24% from 35% earlier.

“The Hemant Soren government is watching over the changing demography. Illegal migrants (from Bangladesh) are grabbing tribal land. They are exploiting tribal girls, but the Hemant Soren government is watching the other way due to vote bank politics,” Shah said. “The population of tribals is going down in Sahebganj, Pakur, Godda, Dumka and Jamtara. It has gone down from around 35% to 24%. The population of backward classes has also reduced.”

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“The JMM (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha) and the Congress do not have the courage to act against it and they have chosen to close their eyes,” the Union home minister said. “But the BJP will not allow the demography of the area to change. We will ensure that this land continues to belong to those who own it.”

One of the five administrative divisions of Jharkhand, tribal dominated Santhal Parganas, spread across five districts, makes the eastern and northeastern stretch of Jharkhand, sharing borders with West Bengal. The BJP has repeatedly raised the issue of changing demography of the area, allegedly due to illegal migration from Bangladesh.

BJP leaders have on several occasions demanded a mini national register of citizens in Santhal Parganas, a political stronghold of the ruling JMM and Congress, to identify illegal migrants. This will be a major poll agenda for the saffron outfit in the upcoming general and assembly elections, party functionaries said, seeking anonymity.

Addressing his second Vijay Sankalp rally in Jharkhand within a month, Shah described the Hemant Soren government as most corrupt incumbent government in the country.

“Hemant Soren should listen to this with open ears. I have no hesitation is saying that the government running in Jharkhand is the most corrupt government in the country running now,” Sha said. “Some people make illegal money using their hands when they become ministers and chief ministers. But this government is using tractors and rail wagon for their corruption.”

The home minister said the people of state are waiting to overthrow the incumbent government and ensure a victory for the BJP in both the Lok Sabha and assembly elections next year.

Hailing the union budget presented earlier this week, Shah counted the achievements of the Narendra Modi government in uplifting the poor, dalits, adivasis and women, even as he challenged the state government to come up with their list of achievements.

Reacting to the charges, JMM spokesperson Manoj Pandey said the statements reflected “frustration” of the BJP and it was targeting the chief minister because the saffron outfit is “afraid of the rising popularity graph of Hemant Soren, who is today the most popular chief minister in the country”.

“They won’t utter a word on Hindenburg report and the lakh of crores of that has been robbed by their industrialist friend. When he was in Jharkhand, he should have spoken about what are they doing for Sarna Code and OBC (other backward class) reservation. He should have spoken about the rising inflation and unemployment,” Pandey said.

He was referring to the recent report by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research that has led to a rout in the share value of the listed firms of the Adani Group. Tribal communities in Jharkhand have long demanded a Sarna code, a separate religious classification in the Census that recognises their status as independent religious communities. The demand poses a political problem for the right wing, which says tribals are Hindus.

“As far as the electoral outcome is concerned, they are afraid of Hemant Soren,” Pandey added. “In Santhal Parganas, they somehow got two seats in the last election. They will be wiped out in the next assembly and Lok Sabha elections.”