Jharkhand BJP on Sunday hit out at the Hemant Soren government for attempting to muzzle and intimidate pro-farmer and pro-people voices in the state a day after police booked the party's state president, Deepak Prakash, and several other leaders for lockdown violations.

“Why is the Hemant Soren government nervous of BJP leaders? That is because we are constantly highlighting the anti-people policies of this government. No matter how many cases it wants to file to silence our leaders, BJP, being a national party, will continue to fight for the people,” party spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo said in a statement.

While Deepak and Kanke MLA Samri Lal held pro-farmer protests in the Surkuhutu area of Kanke on Friday, party workers held similar shows across the state, accusing the state government of failing to ensure minimum support price to farmers, pending payments in return of paddy procurement, and slo-mo progress of promised loan waivers.

Based on a complaint by Angara circle officer Basukinath Tudu, Kanke police registered an FIR against Deepak, Samri and several others for failing to comply with Covid appropriate norms during their protest.

Shahdeo asked why police were silent when members of the ruling party staged protests. “On June 11, Congress held protests against rising fuel prices. Some even held protests outside Raj Bhavan, a high security zone where such demonstrations are banned, but police turned a blind eye. It exposes how they are working at the behest of the government,” he alleged.

Congress, which is part of the ruling coalition in the state, defended the police action. “Not just the FIR, BJP president and others must be behind bars for ignoring Covid rules and putting several people at risk. As far as the fuel price hike protest is concerned, it was a symbolic stir with full compliance of Covid norms,” he said.