Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Wednesday accused the BJP of orchestrating a vicious social media campaign to defame his government by spending a huge sum for the same.
He blamed the saffron party of running a “shadow campaign” to show the state in a negative light.
He alleged that the saffron camp has been “spending crores on various social media platforms” and “created 95,000 WhatsApp groups” to campaign against the JMM-led coalition in the state.
Hitting out at the saffron party, Soren claimed that “dictators may possess billions of rupees” but he believed it was “better to stick to principles rather than securing a win through unfair means”.
“In the last 30 days, advertisements worth Rs 72 lakh have been given from various social media accounts like ‘Jharkhand Chaupal’, ‘Ranchi Chaupal’. If you see the content of these pages, you will understand that their sole purpose is to tarnish my and the state’s image, spread religious frenzy and make people fight among themselves,” Soren said in a series of posts on X.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief further said more than 95,000 WhatsApp groups have been created to portray the state in a bad light. He said he did not spend a single rupee on any promotion which can be “verified by visiting the ad library of any social media”.
Soren added that the JMM has never believed in indulging in “divisive politics” like the BJP-led NDA. “They have no solution to serious issues like rising inflation, unemployment and infiltration across the Chinese border. They provide shelter to Bangladeshi fugitives, and after failing to protect the border with Bangladesh, they are now blaming others,” he added.
The chief minister also expressed his disappointment with the Election Commission for not acting upon his complaints against the BJP’s tactics to win votes by hook or crook.
Polling is underway in 43 of the 81 assembly constituencies in the state in the first phase of elections.