Jharkhand CM faces criticism within his own party

Ranchi, Jan 12 (IANS) It seems that all is not well in the Jharkhand BJP, particularly in Raghubar Das's government, as voices are being raised by senior leaders and ministers from within the party against the functioning of his government.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das is facing stiff criticism within his own party over amendment to two land acts and lease renewal of 105 mines.

On the second day of the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) executive meeting in Jamshedpur on Wednesday, former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Arjun Munda raised the issue of amendments in two land acts.

"The state government has amended two land acts -- Chotanagpur Tenancy Act (CNT) and Santhal Pargana Act (SPT) -- which has made direct impact on the minds of the people," said Munda.

He said: "The Chief Minister should reconsider the amendments in the two land acts. Before taking such decision, the long-term impact should have been taken into account. I also wrote a letter to the Chief Minister but no corrective step has been taken."

Reacting to this, Das said at the meeting: "We will not tolerate politics in the name of tribal people. There are some people who want their personal agendas to be imposed on the party."

Jharkhand Food, Public Distribution & Consumer Affairs Minister Saryu Rai, meanwhile, questioned his own government's decision to renew the lease of more than 100 mines and walked out from the cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening expressing his displeasure.

According to an official present in the meeting, Rai raised the issue of the cabinet's decision to renew the lease of 105 mines. He said the state cabinet does not have power to renew the lease and walked out from the meeting saying that even if the CBI opens the file after 10 years, he does not want to go jail.

The Raghubar Das-led BJP government had given approval for the renewal of lease of the 105 mines during the cabinet meeting held in December in which Rai was not present.

Rai wrote a letter to the Chief Minister saying he was not allowed to speak in the January 10 cabinet meeting.

"I wanted to put forward my view on the issue in the January 10 cabinet meeting but I was not allowed to speak. There is no place for intolerance in the parliamentary system. Within cabinet or outside, if dialogue does not take place, then it is not a healthy system," Rai said in the letter.