Amit Shah accuses Congress of denying statehood to Jharkhand

Union Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday said that Jharkhand did not become a separate state so long as the Congress was in power at the Centre.

Shah, who was addressing an election rally here, said: "For years, the people of Jharkhand fought separate statehood. Hundreds of youth were martyred. Jharkhand was not made a separate state till the Congress was in power at the Centre," said Shah.

Shah said that when the BJP government was formed under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the Centre, his government granted statehood to Jharkhand.

"For the first time, the people of Jharkhand formed an absolute majority government of the BJP in 2014. We made the son of a poor labourer the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, which saw tremendous development under his leadership," he said.

"At a cost of over Rs 200 crore, the BJP government made the museum of tribal heroes who were martyred while fighting for freedom. Around 438 Eklavya schools were constructed where tribal children are studying today," he said.

Shah also promised that the first task of the BJP government in the state would be to form a committee to increase the percentage of reservation for backward classes.

Earlier today in Latehar where he was addressing an election rally, the BJP president accused the Congress party of not allowing the continuous hearing in the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid case.

"You people tell me -- Should a Ram temple be built in Ayodhya or not? But the Congress party was not letting the case be heard continuously. Now, the Supreme Court has delivered a historic verdict paving way for a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya," he said.

Jharkhand will go to polls in five phases. The first phase of polling will be held on November 30, the second phase on December 6, the third phase on December 12, the fourth phase on December 16 and the last phase on December 20. The result will be declared on December 23.

The Congress has forged an alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in the state to take on the BJP.

In 2014, the BJP, which won 43 seats, formed the government along with the All Jharkhand Students' Union (AJSU), which had won five seats under the leadership of Raghubar Das, the present chief minister.