Hemant Soren govt started earning money soon after it came into power: Ex-Jharkhand CM Babulal Marandi

New Delhi: Jharkhand Bharatiya Janata Party president and ex-chief minister Babulal Marandi, in an interview with ANI, highlighted issues in the state and accused the incumbent Jharkhand Mukti Morcha government in the state led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren of being indulged in "corruption" and "started earning money soon after coming into power".

Asked on the state constantly being in the news due to the Enforcement Directorate's actions against senior IAS officers or aides of political leaders, Marandi said, "As soon as this government was formed, it started earning money from the very beginning."

"The responsibility of the government is to work for the welfare of public, but it (incumbent Jharkhand government) is busy in earning money for the family and not for the public," Marandi told ANI.

The 65-year Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader further made accusations that "brokers, middlemen and corrupt officers in the government were placed on important positions and money was earned through them".

"Now, everything is clear when the corruption is figured out."

On being questioned that the Jharkhand Chief Minister is also summoned by the ED, Marandi, who was the first Chief Minister of Jharkhand, said: "The Chief Minister (Hemant Soren) has also been identified (for indulging in corruption), and ED has issued five summons against him so far. But, he has not yet deposed before the investigators."

"I have even told publicly that if a person holding a constitutional post does not respect the ED, police or any law enforcement agency or its notice, the action should be taken against him in in accordance with the law otherwise people will lose faith in the law, and people will think that no action is taken against specific people."

Marandi also reiterated that "legal action should be taken against them (all indulged in corruption in Jharkhand), otherwise there will be a question mark on the ED and also on the law."

"If its not done, people will think that specific people are given special attention. If any person defies the law and avoids summons, action should be taken against him," Marandi said.

He further raised the point about law and order issues in Jharkhand and said "If we look at the year 2021, Jharkhand faced the maximum number of riots then compared to any part of the country".

Criticising the Jharkhand Police, Marandi said, "The job of the police is to catch criminals, punish them and put them in jail. The police have been used as a tool by the state government and now they are directly involved in extortion."

On allegations that the population of tribals in the state has gone down, the former Jharkhand CM said, "When such a large population migrates out of the state for labour, the population goes down. Had they received work opportunities there (in the state), not many people would have migrated.

"A lot of job opportunities could have been generated there, we have minerals and tourism. Had infrastructure been strengthened, law and order stifled, people would have received jobs there too. But the government is not giving much focus to it, so migration has increased...," Marandi added. (ANI)