Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan (save democracy campaign) yatra reached the Latehar district under the Chhatra parliamentary constituency in Jharkhand.

The yatra informs the masses about the alleged attempt by the Narendra Modi government to take away tribal lands and forest and take corporate funds clandestinely.

The yatra, a collective effort of rights outfits and social workers of the state claiming to save democracy and constitutional values during the 2024 general elections, has set a target to visit all the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state through a mass contact journey on a hybrid mode.

“This yatra will go to various villages of all the blocks of Latehar district between February 21 and 23. During this period, public meetings were organised, pamphlets were distributed and posters were pasted on Wednesday,” said Siraj Dutta, one of the activists.

Sunil Kumar Singh of the BJP is the two-term MP from Chhatra parliamentary seat.

Speakers during the public meetings alleged that in the past ten years of the Modi-led BJP government, there has been a gross violation of the rights of tribal, Dalits, backward classes, minorities, farmers, labourers and women.

Speakers also cited the arrest of former chief minister Hemant Soren on “false charges” and claimed that repeated attempts to topple the government elected by the tribals have exposed the anti-tribal face of the BJP and the Modi government.

“Modi government is using Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI in an undemocratic manner only to make the country a one-party dictatorial rule by eliminating state governments and opposition parties,” said a statement issued by the activists.

“The yatra also informed the masses about the Supreme Court exposing the corruption of the Modi government by declaring the Electoral Bond Scheme unconstitutional. Using this scheme, the BJP has secretly taken election donations of more than Rs 10,000 crore from corporate houses,” the communique further claimed.

“During 10 years of BJP rule, there have been attacks on water, forests, land and mineral resources in tribal areas. By amending the Forest Conservation Act, the Modi government has taken away the rights of the Gram Sabha on the forest land and resources acquired and available under the Forest Rights Act. It has eased the process of handing over forest lands to corporates and capitalists. The BJP government had snatched away 22 lakh acres of community land of the Gram Sabha by creating a land bank. Now preparations are underway to create a similar forest bank,” the communique further added.

The communique said that the masses were made aware of the direct impact on the lives of the tribals and indigenous people of Latehar.

“People during the yatra took a pledge to stop the Modi government during the Lok Sabha elections,” the communique claimed.