Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday concluded his campaign for ‘Mission Jharkhand’ coming down heavily on the Congress as well as the JMM, saying he will not allow any ‘Panja’ (election symbol of Congress) or teer…(teer-dhanush — election symbol of JMM) to even hover around the treasury that truly belongs to the people of the country.
Addressing election rallies in Dumka and Barhait, Modi said, “I want to tell one thing from here, without your development, nation can’t move forward. I am not sitting in Delhi as a Prime Minister. I am sitting there as a ‘chowkidar’. No ‘panja’ and no ‘teer’ should hover around the treasury of the Government. I am working in the same direction.”
“The treasury of the Government is empty. The father-son looted the State. Jharkhand has the capacity to provide employment to its people. In fact, it has enough capacity to provide jobs to the people of other States too,” Mod said to a huge cheering crowd at both the places.
Making a fervent appeal, Modi asked the voters to show Sorens the door for the next five years as punishment. The Prime Minister though played tactically considering the Santhal Pargana being the bastion of the Sorens. “Some pretend to be messiah of the tribals’ cause. You have also blessed them with love for years and forgave them for their mistakes in every election. But even a mother punishes her beloved sons and daughters if they commit wrongs and not offer sweets. Punishment is needed to correct them. If you want to correct your loved ones then punish the baap-beta (Sorens) in this election. They have harmed you so much and the time has come to reform them,” said Modi at Dumka while appealing to the voters to even do this for five years if not more.
The JMM has been the hot favourite in the region winning nine out of 16 seats in 2009 polls and its patriarch Shibu Soren has a larger-than-life image among the voters, especially the Santhals. That is why Modi coated his attack on the first family of the State as “corrective measure” and appealed for breaking the jinx once.
Counting on the (mis)deeds of the Sorens, Modi blamed them for ignoring the progress of the tribals at the cost of their own gains. “The father-son duo is not ready to bother about you. Dynastic politics has uprooted democracy here where the common youth has no chance to get an opportunity. Had this culture been in the BJP, a tea-seller would not have reached the position of the Prime Minister,” said the Prime Minister in the ‘Jharkhand Vikas Rally’ later at Barhait.
Hemant Soren is the JMM’s candidate at both Dumka and Barhait. Incidentally, Shibu Soren had won Dumka lok Sabha seat despite a ‘saffron wave’ sweeping entire Jharkhand.
Modi also used the opportunity to assure the people that no alteration would be done with the Santhal Pargana Tenancy (SPT) Act ever. “This falsehood is being spread that Modi would revoke the SPT Act. No one is born in the country who can snatch this right from the Santhal Pargana. If anybody tries to do Modi would stand up to protect this,” said the Prime Minister.
Turning his gun at the Congress, the Prime Minister blamed the party for neglecting the tribals’ cause for 60 years. “Jharkhand is the richest State of the country then why this poverty, hunger, unemployment and backwardness etc are thereIJ
The nature has given so much but the Governments have ruined this. Jharkhand needs a Government that can help it in scaling new heights by utilising the natural resources. It has every possibility to become number one State in the country but for that you have to elect a good Government. We will do that in 10 years which has not been done in the last 60 years.”