Jharkhand polls: Amit Shah accuses Congress of looting mineral-rich state

Lohardaga (Jharkhand): BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday charged the Congress with looting the mineral rich Jharkhand “by supporting an Independent chief minister”. Without naming Madhu Koda, who was an Independent chief minister supported by Congress between 2006 and 2008, Shah accused the Congress of “gifting the people fear, poverty and corruption” in the name of development during its regime. [caption id=“attachment_1805989” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Former Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda.[/caption] Koda was later arrested for his alleged involvement in a mining scam. Addressing an election rally in Lohardaga, the BJP president appealed to the people to make Jharkhand corruption-free and ‘Congress-free’ state by voting for a strong and stable government of BJP-Ajsu party alliance. He appreciated the people of Jharkhand for electing BJP candidates in 12 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats, and asked the people to vote for the party again. Congress has nationalised the banks but did not take any initiative to open accounts for the poor while the Narendra Modi-led BJP government has opened bank accounts of large number of people deprived of the facility for decades under “Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana” within five months of coming to power, he said. Shah said the BJP government has decided to allot coal blocks through tender and Jharkhand would get its share of Rs 2.5 lakh crore in the next 30 years which would be spent for the development of the state. The BJP president said he kicked off the election campaign from Lohardaga because Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Sukhdeo Bhagat was contesting from Lohardaga. The BJP is supporting sitting MLA Kamal Kishore Bhagat of Ajsu party as per the seat adjustment. Shah also addressed another election meeting in Panki constituency in Palamau district for BJP candidate Amit Tiwary. PTI