Claiming that "satanic forces" were attempting to destabilise his democratically-elected government, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday asserted that he will fight till the last drop of his blood.
Addressing a government function in Latehar, Mr Soren said he was not worried as he was given the mandate to govern the state by the people and not his opponents.
"Not able to compete with us politically, our opponents are misusing the constitutional institutions. They are using ED, CBI, Lokpal and Income Tax Department to destabilise our government. But we are not worried about it. We have been given this mandate not by the opponents but by the people," he said.
"The state underwent COVID-19 situation for two years. Now, when we accelerated our pace of development, satanic forces are out of their holes to put up a blockade on our speed. Such forces can do anything but can never stop me from doing work for my people," he said.
At the programme, Mr Soren inaugurated and laid the foundations of several projects worth around Rs 231.27 crore.
"I am the son of a tribal and fear is not there in a tribal's DNA. I will be fighting till the last drop of blood in my body," he said.
Mr Soren claimed that a "gang of outside forces" was active in Jharkhand.
"This gang had worked to destroy the state for the last 20 years. When they were dethroned in 2019, the conspirators could not tolerate it. If we stay here, they are going to have a difficult time ahead," he said.
"We are not power hungry. We are here under a constitutional system just to work for the welfare of the people. Did anyone ever think that every old, widow and single woman will get a pension? This was made possible by your son with your blessings," the chief minister said.
Mr Soren said his government urged the Centre to sanction more funds for giving pension to the people of the state as Jharkhand is poor.
"But, they did not sanction. They are a group of traders. They know how to take but not how to give," he said.
The chief minister also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu.
"It is unfortunate that on the occasion of World Tribal Day (August 9), the prime minister and the tribal president of the country did not even find it appropriate to extend good wishes to the tribal society of the country. In their eyes we are not 'adivasis' (tribals) but 'vanvasis' (forest dwellers)," he claimed.
The Election Commission on Thursday sent its recommendation to Governor Ramesh Bais on a plea seeking Mr Soren's disqualification as an MLA for violating electoral norms by extending a mining lease to himself.
The BJP, the petitioner in the case, has sought Mr Soren's disqualification for violating Section 9(A) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which deals with disqualification for government contracts.
According to Raj Bhavan sources, the governor is likely to reply to the Election Commission's recommendation on Saturday.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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