When BJP President and Home Minister Amit Shah addressed an election rally in Chakradharpur, telling the people that his party-led government had enforced a law prohibiting forceful conversion of tribals from one religion to another, nobody clapped.
Reason? Among the people who had gathered there to attend his rally, tribals were few in number. In fact, the ground and many chairs put up there for the audience were empty.
Most of the crowd who attended it were non-tribals."BJP is out to divide tribals between Christian and non-Christian. We don't like it", said a non-christian tribal who does not want to be named.
However, during his speech, he promised that his party-led government will pick up illegal immigrants and throw them out."Before I come to seek votes in 2024, NRC(National Registration of Citizenship) will be enforced and illegal immigrants will be picked up and thrown out", he said.
Criticising the Opposition and JMM Acting President Hemant Soren, he said their central aim was to gain power, but BJP wants 'development' of the state and its people.
Talking about the Congress, he pulled it up and said: Come to the (electoral) field by recording the achievements of your party-led government of the past 70 years and our party-led government of the past 5 years", he said.
The crowd appeared less enthusiastic at the venue in Chakradharpur, a city with a municipality in Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district, located in between Jamshedpur and Chaibasa,is one of the most profitable divisions of Indian Railways and serves the mineral-rich areas of Jharkhand and Odisha as well as the cement,steel and limestone industry in the region.