Ranchi: The INDIA bloc leaders lodged a complaint against BJP leader and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Jharkhand for allegedly making “inflammatory and divisive” speeches during a recent rally in the poll-bound state.
Blaming the Jharkhand government of ‘inviting infiltrators as a special community will vote for it’, Sarma had said those people would vote in one place, ‘but our Hindus will vote half here and half there.’ He had made this remark during his speech on November 1 in Sarath.
In a letter to the CEO, the INDIA bloc alleged that Sarma’s ‘divisive and hateful’ language targeted the Muslim minorities in the state, according to reports. The bloc also claimed that ‘venomous language’ was used by the Assam leader to create a ‘civil war-like situation’ and trigger violence in the upcoming state assembly elections.
The India Bloc letter also highlighted other controversial statements allegedly made by Sarma on separate occasions.
“He is deliberately painting all members of a particular religious minority as infiltrators to exploit and deepen existing social divisions for political gain, create communal tension, and disrupt the social fabric of Jharkhand for electoral benefits,” the letter read, as quoted by the India Today.
The party also submitted recordings of Sarma that reportedly stated that the Hemant Soren government in Jharkhand was supporting Bangladeshi infiltrators.
According to the bloc, such statements ‘violate the fundamental structure of our Constitution and contradicts various judicial pronouncements and judgments passed by the Supreme Court against hate speech.’
How did Sarma react?
Reacting to such developments, Sarma questioned as to why the INDIA bloc was lodging complaints against him for making a remark about infiltrators.
“Why complain against me? What am I saying? Why are they hurt when I speak against infiltrators? Where is it written, in which law, that it is wrong to speak against infiltrators?” he asked, the India Today reported.
He also insisted that if he was talking about Hindus, it didn’t mean that he was targeting Muslims. The minister claimed that he didn’t utter the word ‘muslim.’
Another plaint against Sarma
BSP leader and party’s Hussainabad candidate, Kushwaha Shivpujan Mehta, filed a separate complaint in court against Sarma for allegedly ‘disturbing communal harmony.’ He alleged that during an election rally in Hussainabad, Sarma had said that the sub-division in Palamu district would be made a district if the BJP came to power. The Assam minister had allegedly stated that he would name the district after Lord Ram or Krishna.
The state Assembly election in Jharkhand will be held on November 13 and November 20 to elect for 81 seats.
