Former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren's wife Kalpana Soren during Jharkhand Mukti Morchca's commencement of election campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, in Hazaribagh district, Thursday, April 4, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
Hazaribag (Jharkhand): Kalpana Soren, the wife of jailed former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, on Thursday claimed that the BJP will push the state into backwardness if it returns to power at the Centre.
Soren was in Hazaribag participating in the 45th foundation day celebrations of the party.
Addressing a gathering, she said, "The dictatorial force, which is in front of you at the Centre, has made Jharkhand a stepson. If the BJP comes to power again and if you make BJP leaders win from here, it will further push Jharkhand into backwardness."
She alleged that the BJP "doesn't like Jharkhand and hates people of the state".
"They don't like us to talk to them eye-to-eye with self-respect. They don't like that any student from Jharkhand goes abroad for study," she claimed.
She urged people to support Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidates so that Jharkhand could be "progressing the way it is growing now".
Chief Minister Champai Soren, who was also scheduled to participate in the programme, said he could not take part in the JMM's foundation day programme in Hazaribag "due to some unavoidable reasons".
He wrote on X, "Due to some unavoidable reasons, I am not with you on this important occasion of the foundation day of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, but despite not being there, I am with you every moment."
He added that Hazaribag has been a major stronghold of JMM since the time of the Jharkhand state movement.
"In the last four years, our government has tried to bring about a change in the living standards of the indigenous and common people of Jharkhand. We have provided pensions, rations, clothing and benefits of other schemes to every needy family. More than two lakh Abua houses have been provided, and houses are to be given to 20 lakh families," he said.