Soren readies for polls, offers sops

With a bow and arrow in hand and the promise of ‘‘roti, kapda aur makan’’ for all, JMM chief Shibu Soren took a rather early plunge for an election that may well be a-year-and-half away.

Soren’s ‘Vyavastha Paribartan Rally’ was as much to impress his opponents with a show of strength as an urge to cash in on the growing discontentment among tribals and the insecurity of non-tribals and minorities. With the BJP government’s domicile policy threatening to take away their rights to employment and land, the 22.5 per cent Bengali population of this new state appears eager to run into Soren’s arms. And so do the minorities.

‘‘Everyone who was born in Jharkhand is a Jharkhandi,’’ he reassured his audience today. That he was also trying to do a Laloo in Jharkhand was apparent from the number of speakers from minority he had on the dais. ‘‘We are not against any religion, but we will not be used as pawns in BJP’s Ayodhya chalo game every three months,’’ he said. ‘‘If Soren comes to power, he will give free power to tribal homes and to those below poverty line. I know how to get it out of the bureaucrats,’’ he added.