The NDA has decided to raise a string of issues in the ongoing monsoon session of the Jharkhand Assembly, with the alleged fake encounter of tribal activist Surya Hansda topping the agenda. At a meeting of the NDA legislative party held at the BJP state headquarters on Friday, the alliance resolved to push for a CBI inquiry into the case.
Leader of Opposition and BJP state president Babulal Marandi chaired the meeting, which was attended by JDU MLA Saryu Rai, AJSU MLA Nirmal Mahato, LJP MLA Janardan Paswan, and BJP legislators, including C.P. Singh, chief whip Naveen Jaiswal, Raj Sinha, Nagendra Mahato, Satyendra Tiwari, Alok Chourasia, Shashibhushan Mehta, Manoj Yadav, Devendra Kunwar, Pradeep Prasad, Roshanlal Choudhary, Purnima Das Sahu, Manju Kumari, and Ujjwal Das.
Briefing the media after the meeting, BJP chief whip Naveen Jaiswal said the alliance would highlight “the state government’s complicity in police brutality” and press for justice in the Hansda case. “The encounter was completely fabricated. The victim’s family and local people are clear that it was a planned killing. We will not back down from our demand for a CBI investigation,” he said.
The NDA also resolved to raise what it termed the “collapse of law and order,” the state of primary and higher education, alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations, farmers’ distress due to excessive rainfall, and black marketing of urea.
Jaiswal accused the government of attempting to undermine the Governor’s constitutional powers through the proposed University Amendment Bill, while also “destroying higher education” in the state. He added that the renaming of “Atal Clinic” as “Mother Teresa Clinic” was an insult to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, saying the alliance would oppose it strongly in the House.
Farmers’ issues are also set to dominate the NDA’s offensive. The legislators alleged that unseasonal rains had ruined paddy crops, and that farmers were being forced to buy urea at inflated prices due to large-scale black marketing.
Security concerns were another point of contention. The NDA alleged that while ruling alliance leaders at the block level were being allotted bodyguards, security for the opposition’s former legislators was being withdrawn.
AJSU MLA Nirmal Mahato described threats received by former Deputy Chief Minister Sudesh Mahato as a “serious matter” that would also be taken up in the Assembly. LJP MLA Janardan Paswan said all opposition parties would join hands to ensure these issues are raised with force.