NEW DELHI: The BJP is banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s likely rally in Bokaro and a roadshow in Ranchi on November 10 to tilt the battle of narratives in the saffron party’s favour as it labours to pin down the JMM on the illegal Rohingyas and Bangladeshis infiltration issue and faces “dare” from the incumbent to implement the Sarna Religious Code and 1932 Khatiyan Bill in Jharkhand. The BJP relies heavily on the Prime Minister’s “charisma” to return to power in the poll-bound state.
According to party sources, the Prime Minister is all set to visit the state for the second round of campaigning on Sunday. Though the schedule is not final yet, Mr Modi is likely to address a public rally at the Chandipur Football Ground in Chandankiyari in Bokaro district, where he will seek support for the party’s candidate and Leader of the Opposition in Jharkhand Legislative Assembly Amar Bauri. The BJP candidates from the nearby constituencies will also be present during the Chandanakiyari rally.
Later in the day, the Prime Minister will hold a roadshow in the state capital, Ranchi, the sources added.
Earlier, Mr Modi held two rallies in Chaibasa and Garhwa on November 4, wherein he had accused the ruling coalition government of the JMM, the Congress and the RJD of supporting the Bangladeshi infiltrators for their votebank politics.
In Jharkhand, while the BJP is attacking the ruling coalition on corruption, illegal infiltration and illegal conversion issues to woo the tribal voters, the JMM-led alliance is playing the Sarna Religious Code card. The JMM has been pitching for "Sarna" to be considered a separate tribal religious code.
In an election rally at Torpa in Khunti district, the JMM MLA Kalpana Soren, the wife of chief minister Hemant Soren, dared the BJP-led Central government to implement the Sarna Religious Code and 1932 Khatiyan Bill passed by the state Assembly in Jharkhand.
Aiming to counter the BJP’s narratives of illegal Rohingyas and Bangladeshis infiltrations against the ruling coalition in Jharkhand, the JMM has been pitching for these two pending and emotive demands of the Adivasi population. Both bills are pending with the Central government for final approval.
In 2020, the JMM-led government passed a unanimous Assembly resolution on the 'Sarna Code" for the inclusion of Sarna as a separate religion in the 2021 census and sent it to the Central government for approval.
On November 11, last year, the Jharkhand Assembly unanimously passed the 1932-based domicile bill, which specifies that only individuals or their ancestors listed in the Khatiyan (land records) of 1932 or earlier will be recognised as local inhabitants of Jharkhand, entitling them to Class III and Class IV jobs in the state.
