Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday addressing a rally at Jamshedpur in poll-bound Jharkhand termed the ruling coalition of the JMM-Congress-RJD as “enemies of Jharkhand” and reiterated Bangladeshi infiltration as the “biggest problem” facing the state.

The Prime Minister, who earlier in the day virtually handed over keys to beneficiaries of PMAY-G and flagged off six Vande Bharat trains through video conference at capital Ranchi as he could not fly to Jamshedpur due to adverse weather conditions induced by deep depression over the Bay of Bengal and cancelled his planned roadshow in Jamshedpur, however later reached Jamshedpur by road to address the gathering.

In his nearly 35-minute speech, Modi reminded about Jharkhand creation during the BJP government (carved out of Bihar in 2000) and took credit for making the country’s first tribal as President (Droupadi Murmu) by stating that Jharkhand and the BJP relation is ‘dil se’ (from heart) and not only for election and assured the gathering that if they give the BJP a chance to serve the state then they will make all efforts to take the state towards development.

Attacking the ruling coalition, Modi said: “There are three biggest enemies of Jharkhand — JMM, RJD and Congress. The RJD is still taking revenge from the state for creation (separation from Bihar) while the Congress ruled the state from Delhi for decades but did not let Dalits, backwards and adivasis progress and the JMM is looting forest, land and mineral resources.”

Reiterating his Lok Sabha claims that Bangladeshi infiltration is a big problem for Jharkhand, Modi said: “Bangladeshi infiltration remains a concern for every Jharkhandi and even Jharkhand High Court has ordered an independent probe. However, the JMM government is not ready to accept infiltration. Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltration is a big threat in Santhal Pargana and Kolhan. The identity and demography of this place is changing rapidly.”

However, the Prime Minister statement was strongly refuted by JMM central general secretary and party spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya who claimed, “Jharkhand High Court has not given any opinion or directive on this line and the affidavit filed by ministry of home affairs will be taken up for discussion during the next hearing of the court. The Prime Minister dragging the high court that too wrongly in a public meeting is highly objectionable and the court should take suo-motu cognizance of it.”