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Jharkhand BJP chief charged with sedition after comment on Hemant Soren govt
Two days back in Dumka, Prakash had said that the incumbent government, led by Hemant Soren, would be unseated within two months and the next government would have a BJP chief minister.
A day after the Jharkhand police booked state BJP president Deepak Prakash for sedition and other charges, the leader on Sunday challenged the government to arrest him, stressing that he will not retract from his stand.
Two days back in Dumka, Prakash had said that the incumbent government, led by Hemant Soren, would be unseated within two months and the next government would have a BJP chief minister. He had also warned few government officials not to misuse their powers to favour ruling party’s candidates in Dumka and Bermo bypolls, scheduled on November 3.
Following Prakash’s comment, Dumka’s Congress district president Shyamal Kumar Singh had filed a complaint with the police, alleging that Prakash was trying to destabilise the elected government and intimidated government officials.
Responding to the complaint, the Dumka police registered an FIR under Sections 124 A (sedition), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimation) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy).
Speaking to the media here at the BJP’s headquarters, Prakash said, “I challenge the government to arrest me as I am still sticking to my stand. The incumbent government is bound to go due to internal dissensions. I will keep questioning the chief minister on public issues, no matter what may come. It’s my right.”
Meanwhile, chief minister Hemant Soren, also speaking to the media in Dumka, said, “BJP does not believe in democratic system. Like in other states, they are trying to define politics in a new way in which role of horse trading is vital. It becomes apparently clear by Prakash’s statement. What is running in his mind? If they have planned to topple the government, then this FIR against him would prove a strong tool to disclose their (BJP people) nefarious design.”
Prakash took jibe over the functioning of the government and its machinery. He said, “The government invoked sedition charges against me, who always utter “Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Vandemataram”. A patriot has been made a traitor. See the functioning of the police. They invoke charges only after reading the complaint. But, in my case, the complainant had submitted in writing what charges (mentioning the IPC sections) should be invoked and the police acted on it.”
The state BJP president also slammed chief minister Soren for giving a clean chit to Ranchi based social activist and an accused in Bhima-Koregaon violence case Sten Swami.
Reading out a part of the NIA’s charge sheet in the case, Prakash said that the accused persons involved in this case had plans to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“They planned for procurement of M-4 rifles and four lakh bullets. It’s a 5000-page chargesheet. But, our CM didn’t care to read it and wait for the judicial decision and jumped on to give a clean chit to Swami,” he said.
Prakash questioned why the CM kept silent when scores of hunger deaths and rape and murder incidents occurred in the state during lockdown period.
He disclosed incidents before the media and said that he would keep questioning the CM for his failures.
