Ranchi: A day after the central govt announced it will constitute a high-level committee to investigate ‘abnormal’ and ‘unnatural’ demographic changes across the country, primarily driven by illegal immigration, chief minister Hemant Soren on Wednesday dubbed it as BJP’s tool for political narrative.The opposition BJP too has been accusing state govt of appeasement politics alleging demographic change in Santhal Pargana due to presence to illegal Bangladeshis. In 2024 assembly polls too, this was the party’s key narrative but BJP failed to reap dividends as the alliance of JMM-Cong-RJD under Hemant returned to office with a thumping majority.Responding to a query after cabinet meeting at Project Building, Hemant said, “Ever since the NDA govt came to power in the Centre in 2014, such claims have been repeatedly made without any clear outcome. This is not new. They have been raising this issue for years in public forums. They created similar noise over Assam as well, but what was the result?He added, “While any illegal activity must be addressed, it is primarily the Centre’s responsibility to investigate and act. Whom are they trying to tell this to? Monitoring and correcting such matters is the Centre’s job. Is it the responsibility of the state govt? Rather than taking any accountability on anything, they tend to hide under attempting to create political narratives to suit their agendas.”Hemant accused the BJP of diverting attention from pressing economic concerns. “Instead of focusing on real issues, unnecessary matters are being turned into political tools. Petrol and diesel prices are rising, but no one is talking about that,” he said. He also questioned claims of India emerging as a “Vishwaguru”, arguing that the country is facing economic challenges.
