RANCHI : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said rampant infiltration has led to the shrinking of tribal population in Jharkhand and assured that if the BJP comes to power in the state, it will bring out a ‘white paper’ on demography to protect tribal land rights.

Addressing the BJP’s extended working committee meeting in Ranchi, attended by over 25,000 party workers, Shah accused Chief Minister Hemant Soren of being involved in ‘love jihad’ and ‘land jihad’ due to his “vote bank and appeasement policy,” which he claimed was causing demographic changes.

“Tribals are being evicted from their land. The tribal population is decreasing due to conversion. When BJP comes to power, it will bring a white paper and give back the land to tribals,” he said. Terming the Soren-led government in Jharkhand as the most corrupt in the country, Shah appealed to BJP workers to remove the JMM-led coalition government in the upcoming Assembly elections.

He thanked the BJP workers for securing nine out of 14 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, saying the party has got major share of votes in 52 out of 81 Assembly segments. “Take it in writing that this time the NDA government will be formed in Jharkhand under the leadership of PM Modi.”

Shah also targeted INDIA bloc and Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, accusing them of “showing arrogance” despite losing the Lok Sabha polls. “The BJP got more seats in this Lok Sabha election than Congress’s combined numbers in 2014, 2019, 2024 polls,” he said.

“Someone else formed the government in the country, someone else won the election, but arrogance has come to the Congress party. You have seen Rahul Gandhi in Parliament; no one harbours so much arrogance even after winning with a two-third majority,” Shah added. “In 2024 elections, the NDA got an absolute majority and the BJP alone got 240 seats; the NDA has got more seats in 2024 alone than the Congress got in the 2014, 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections.”

Emphasising the BJP’s commitment to Jharkhand’s development, Shah noted that during Congress’s regime, only Rs 84,000 crore was allocated for the state’s development, whereas under PM Modi, the BJP government ensured Rs 3.84 lakh crore for the state in the past 10 years. He credited the BJP with containing the Naxalite menace and providing the state with its first tribal CM.

“It is the BJP who made a tribal woman the President of India and included Santhali language in the eighth schedule of the Constitution. A number of schemes for the country were launched from Jharkhand,” he said, adding that the BJP government also worked for OBC welfare.

 “The present cabinet under PM Modi has a 27 per cent representation of OBCs…Modi has done much work for the welfare of OBCs, Dalits and tribals. He has done work towards strengthening national security,” he added.

 Referring to recovery of over Rs 300 crore from the premises linked to a former Congress MP in Jharkhand, Shah asked people whether they had seen such a huge amount. He also referred to recovery of about Rs 30 crore from the house of the PA of a former Jharkhand minister and alleged that Congress was encouraging corruption.

‘Vote bank and appeasement policy’.  Amit Shah accused Chief Minister Hemant Soren of being involved in ‘love jihad’ and ‘land jihad’ due to his “vote bank and appeasement policy,” which he claimed was causing demographic changes.

“Tribals are being evicted from their land. The tribal population is decreasing due to conversion. When BJP comes to power, it will bring a white paper and give back the land to tribals,” he said.