RJD’s Tejashwi accuses Centre of step-motherly treatment to J’khand in fund disbursement

By PTI

JHARKHAND: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav accused the Centre of meting out “step-motherly treatment” to Jharkhand in disbursement of funds, which is leading to “hindering the development process” in the state.

The leader of opposition in the Bihar assembly also alleged that ever since non-BJP forces came to power in Jharkhand under the leadership of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the “central government did not allocate development funds as much as it did during the saffron party’s regime in the state”.

“This indicates the biased approach of the Narendra Modi government towards the BJP-ruled states. We will certainly fight against any sort of step-motherly treatment to Jharkhand,” he said while addressing a rally in Chhatarpur in Palamu district.

Describing the Rashtriya Janata Dal as his mother, Yadav said he cannot compromise with the party’s honour and attended the “Tejashwi aap ke dwar” (Tejashwi at your doorstep) programme in Chhatarpur despite ensuing by-elections to two assembly seats in Bihar.

He said the RJD is committed to secularism and social justice, and will never compromise with these principles.

Yadav said Jharkhand is also his home and the party will organise a two-day programme every month to regain its strength in the state.

“Those who think that the RJD has a weak base in Jharkhand are in illusion,” he said. His comment came after Jharkhand Finance Minister and Congress leader Rameshwar Oraon had recently said the RJD has a “negligible presence in the state, and there was no need to pay attention to it”.

Attacking the BJP on rising fuel prices, he said the Centre has “failed” to control it, while the saffron party criticised the UPA government before 2014 on the same issue.

Today is the auspicious day for Bihar and Jharkhand as RJD president Lalu Prasad returned to Patna from where imprisonment in fodder scam cases had kept him away for three years.

“Lalu ji is like Bholenath (Lord Shiva) and he is a leader of poor people. He forgives even his opponents but they betrayed him. A conspiracy was hatched against him by the BJP but he continued to fight for farmers, labourers and poor people,” Tejashwi claimed.

During the programme, former RJD MP Ghuran Ram said Tejashwi would be a strong and prospective prime ministerial candidate.