Amit Shah's Promise In Jharkhand: If "Intruder" Marries Tribal, Can't Get Land

An 'intruder' who marries a girl from a tribal community will not be entitled to land in her name, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in poll-bound Jharkhand.

In jabs at the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress alliance, he said if the Bharatiya Janata Party wins, it will pass a law to stop transfer of land to 'intruders' - the reference was to 'infiltrators' from Bangladesh, an echo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comments - who marry tribal women.

"Infiltrators are grabbing land by marrying our daughters. We will bring a law to prevent transfer of land to infiltrators if they marry tribal women. We will also form a committee to identify infiltrators to drive them out and reclaim land grabbed by them," Mr Shah said at a rally in Seraikela.

The attack follows a similar broadside by Prime Minister Modi last week. Mr Modi was speaking in Garhwa where he slammed into Chief Minister Hemant Soren's administration, accusing the ruling JMM, Congress, and Rashtriya Janata Dal of being "supporters of Bangladesh infiltrators".

READ | PM's "Infiltrator" Jab At Hemant Soren's Party, Congress In Jharkhand

"The JMM-RJD-Congress government has taken appeasement to its peak. These parties are destroying the state's social harmony. They are supporters of infiltrators. To get votes of Bangladesh infiltrators, they are getting them settled across Jharkhand," he had said.

Meanwhile, Mr Shah also hit out at the JMM over "the way Champai Soren was humiliated and thrown out" and said, "This is not just an insult to Champai Soren but an insult to tribal people."

Champai Soren was a former JM leader who was made Chief Minister after Hemant Soren was arrested and jailed on corruption charges, but removed immediately after the party boss got bail. 

He joined the BJP in August and his induction has been seen as a boost for the party's efforts to strengthen its connection with the tribal communities, a strong support base of the JMM.

READ | Ex Chief Minister Champai Soren Joins BJP Days After Quitting JMM

Champai Soren was also referenced by the Prime Minister, who accused the JMM and Congress of having "left no stone unturned in humiliating an Adivasi son".

The corrupt leaders of the JMM-Congress alliance, Mr Shah further said, would be jailed if the BJP wins back power in the mineral and coal-rich state, accusing the incumbent government of a Rs 1,000 crore jobs scam, a Rs 300 crore land scam, and a Rs 1,000 crore mining scam, among others.

Mr Shah said that if the BJP is voted to power, it would ensure "if the central government sends Rs 1 (as aid) 25 paise is added to it by the state... so Rs 1.25 reaches the people."

The Home Minister also hit out at the Congress over the headline seizure of cash in December last year, when the Income Tax Department raided Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Sahu's home, resulting in the "highest-ever" recovery of over Rs 350 crore in a single operation.

"I ask all of you... has anyone seen Rs 350 crore? But Rs 350 crore was found at the house of a Congress MP. 27 machines had to be brought to count the notes," he said.

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He also pointed to a more recent operation, in May, when cash worth over Rs 35 crore was seized from Congress leader Alamgir Alam's private secretary's room. The seizure was days before the general election and raised a political storm, with the BJP accused the Congress of corruption.

"Rs 30 crores were seized from Alamgir Alam's residence. Whose is this Rs 350 crores... this Rs 30 crores? This was sent by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the youth of my Jharkhand... but the Hemant Soren government ate this up..." Mr Shah declared.

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