Responding sharply to Union Minister Giriraj Singh’s remarks, Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Sonal Shanti accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of repeatedly undermining constitutional and democratic values over the past 11 years. He said the BJP continues to use the Congress as a scapegoat to conceal its own “dark truths.”
Sonal Shanti stated that the BJP cannot tolerate Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi raising questions on national issues. “The politics of evasion, lies, and distraction from present failures has become central to BJP’s character,” he said.
“When they have nothing to say about today, they draw people into debates from 40 years ago or promises for the next 40.”
He questioned the BJP’s silence on unresolved matters like the failure to arrest the accused in the Pahalgam terror attack, rising unemployment, inflation, and increasing criminal cases involving BJP legislators. “What the BJP leaves behind is a record of price rise, joblessness, cronyism, and policy surrender to foreign pressures,” he said.
Shanti accused the Central government of allowing invisible coalitions between political, corporate, and foreign players to shape national policy, eroding public welfare and favouring industrial conglomerates. “The economic direction of the country is no longer about public good but about private gain for a few,” he remarked.
On dynasty politics, Shanti said the BJP’s rhetoric is hollow. “Over 40 per cent of BJP MPs hail from other parties, many of them from political families. Those who once raised slogans for the Congress after the Emergency now hold key posts in the BJP, including cabinet positions,” he said.
He added that the real emergency is now, where citizens—especially students, youth, women, farmers, Adivasis, OBCs, and Dalits—are being punished for asking questions and asserting rights. “What kind of democracy denies its people the space to speak?” he asked.
Countering Singh’s comments on Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Shanti said, “Jharkhand does not require the BJP’s advice. The state government is working. BJP leaders tried to place Jharkhand on a communal time bomb, but the people rejected this divisive agenda.”
He said the BJP failed to weaponize the infiltration issue to topple the state government. “Pahalgam happened because infiltration continues across national borders. Instead of targeting Jharkhand, the Union Home Minister should question Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. That is where the issue lies,” he said.