Whenever one talks about Jharkhand, the image of resource-rich but economically poor and Maoism-ridden state emerges in the mind. Given the fact the state is resource-rich, most of the analysts would blame the politicians and the government of the state for the state’s poverty, which seems entirely the truth.
The previous BJP government tried to improve the policies of the state and succeeded too, however, it failed in politics which resulted in it losing the 2019 Assembly Elections. Hemant Soren led JMM succeeded in trumping BJP in the politics, but in his less than one-year tenure as the CM of Jharkhand, he has taken the state back to its old days of lawlessness and corruption.
It has been less than a year since the Soren government came to power; the posters of banned Maoist outfits are now visible in the heart of Ranchi, the state capital. Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC), a banned Maoist outfit, is making its presence felt in the state much to the worry of the state police and intelligence units.
“TSPC has put up posters and a red banner at Ratu Road Junction in Ranchi that is densely populated and also a VIP zone. The cavalcade of the Chief Minister, Governor and VIP’s take this route to the airport or the Vidhan Sabha,” reads a report by India Today.
Also, the state government has stalled in its operations of Eastern Coalfields Limited, due to which the company is suffering a loss of around ₹ 2 crores per day. The Jharkhand Government wants a higher transit permit than previously decided. Moreover, the Central Government has alleged that the Soren government is attempting to stall the auction of 41 coal mines, 9 of which fall in Jharkhand, using environmental concerns as a ruse. These unallocated coal mines and stalling of work of ECL amount to a loss of thousands of crores to Jharkhand, and this can surely be called a ‘mini-coal gate scam’.
Jharkhand was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons even earlier in January, when the Pathalgadi supporters had beheaded seven tribals, who were allegedly against the Pathalgadi rebellion in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand.
Seven people were taken hostage and later killed, allegedly by armed supporters of the Pathalgadi movement. The bodies were retrieved only three days after the incident from Burugulikera village, dumped in a forest.
The killings were said to be a fallout of an old rivalry between supporters of the Pathalgadi movement and those against it.
Several experts have raised their concerns regarding the Pathalgadi movement, and the way the tribals are now donning the AK- 47s is concerning. The movement is getting radicalized and violent day-by-day alluding towards a possible Maoist influence. Some reports have even connected the tribals associated with this movement to the illegal opium trade.
The unholy trifecta of JMM, Congress, and RJD is pillaging the resource-rich state, destroying its core values whilst the criminals and Naxals go around killing and murdering anyone unchecked and unabated in the state. The state machinery has collapsed and red extremism is on an upswing and consequently, Jharkhand is staring at a bleak future under the Soren Government.