Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Sunday reaffirmed the coalition Government's stand on “no special status for Jharkhand" and hit back at the Opposition accusing it of taking the people of the State for a ride on the issue.
The Opposition, incidentally, is speaking in one voice for the coveted status, particularly after the Centre granted special status to Seemandhra for political reasons. "They (opposition) are fooling people. We don't need special status if the State gets the money that we are entitled for," said Soren while speaking to media persons. bSoren was on a visit to Deoghar to lay foundation for projects worth Rs 192.10 crore besides inaugurating a new Block Office at Madhupur.
The CM's statement came a day after Opposition parties criticised the Central Government for ignoring Jharkhand's plea for special status threatening to bring censure motion against the Congress-led government of United Progressive Alliance in Jharkhand Assembly. The CM's statement has only added insult to the injury of political parties who were clamouring for the status. Political parties criticized the incumbent government's attitude over the stand. The AJSU party and the JVM have called bandh on March 2 to press for the demand of special status.
The principal opposition, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), poked fun at CM and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha for making the statement supposedly under pressure from parties that were opposed to the state even before it was carved out of united Bihar. The BJP counter attacked the CM for becoming a puppet in the Congress' hand. "This statement is not strange for the CM. He is speaking what is being dictated to him by the Congress and RJD. While JMM has no stand over the issue, the Congress and RJD were always against the State," maintained State BJP president Ravindra Kumar Rai.
However, the Congress threw gauntlet in the ring to shield the CM from the opposition's barb over the issue.The party attempted to delink the issue of special status and the money that the CM supposedly talked about at Deoghar. Soren has been making efforts to seek compensation from mining companies for carrying mining operations on lands acquired in the State. Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) president Sukhdeo Bhagat denied any trade-off between special status and the money that the CM referred to in his statement.
"These are two separate issues. There is unanimity in the coalition over the issue and the CM is under no pressure to toe the line," conceded Bhagat. However, the Congress did not mince words while attempting to tear the main opposition party's allegations to shreds. The party paid back to the BJP with the allegations of scoring brawny points before the parliamentary elections.
"These are political stunts. Parties who are demanding the status could not succeed despite being at the helm both at the Centre and State. Besides, they have no roadmap for the development of State if the special status is granted," concluded the JPCC president.