Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said Friday that the Jharkhand government was the government of Congress leaders Alamgir Alam and Irfan Ansari – a former and current minister, respectively – and called on the people of the state to remove them from power like “we removed Babur from Ayodhya”. Sarma, the BJP’s co-incharge of Jharkhand elections, was speaking at a campaign event in the Kanke area of Ranchi district. In his speech, he accused Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s government of appeasing “infiltrators” as part of vote bank politics. He also raised allegations of corruption, and brought up the Enforcement Directorate raid on premises linked to then state minister Alamgir Alam’s personal secretary earlier this year, during which Rs 35 crore cash was recovered. Alam was later arrested by ED. On Friday, Sarma said: “Ye JMM ka sarkar hamara sarkar nahi hai, ye Alamgir Alam ka sarkar hai, ye Irfan Ansari ka sarkar hai. Jaise Ayodhya se hum logon ne Babur ko hataya, aise hi sarkar se hume Alamgirl Alam aur Ifran Ansari ko bhagana padega. Ek saath mil ke hume BJP sarkar ko laana padea (This JMM government is not our government. This is the government of Alamgir Alam and Irfan Ansari. Like we removed Babur from Ayodhya, we have to also remove Alamgirl Alam and Ifran Ansari from the government. Working together, we have to bring in a BJP government).” Alam is currently in judicial custody. Ansari has recently faced criticism for allegedly making derogatory remarks about BJP’s Jamtara candidate and CM Soren’s sister-in-law, Sita Soren. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav also campaigned for the BJP in Jharkhand and claimed that Hindus were facing problems in the state. Addressing a poll rally at Panki in Palamu district, he said, “Our neighbouring country Pakistan is known for loot, lies, fraud and insult of Hindus. The JMM-led coalition has converted the Jharkhand capital into Karachi.” He also charged the JMM-led coalition with patronising “infiltration” from Bangladesh, and accused the JMM and Congress of being behind the “declining population of Hindus” in the state. Jharkhand will go to the polls in two phases on November 13 and November 20. (With PTI)
