Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that it had “squeezed the state like a lemon” for nearly two decades and broken the back of poor states.
Soren alleged that the BJP-led central government forms “double engine” governments by horse-trading MLAs, MPs and toppling governments and is destroying the federal structure of the country. Soren claimed in an exclusive interview with ‘PTI-Bhasha’, “BJP has squeezed Jharkhand like a lemon in the last 20 years but now this has to stop.”
We feed the cow and they take away the milk. This cannot be allowed now. They looted the wealth of Jharkhand. It is an irony that Jharkhand, rich in mineral resources, has become one of the poorest states.” He alleged, ”We are rich in resources – coal, iron ore, bauxite, dolomite but our revenue collection comes from the central government’s GST. It is hampered by the system which has broken the back of states like Jharkhand. It did nothing to meet our financial needs.
Soren said that despite repeatedly writing letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, coal dues of Rs 1.36 lakh crore have not yet been paid to the state. He accused the BJP of pursuing a “fixed agenda of divisive politics, Hindu-Muslim polarization and communal hatred to capture power” and claimed that it was unfortunate for the country that healthy political competition was dying out.