Chief minister Hemant Soren has likened the Prime Minister's call to him on Thursday night to his "Mann Ki Baat", revealing that the Prime Minister only spoke his mind about the current Covid situation without allowing him to air his concerns about, and requirements for, Jharkhand amid a ruthless second wave of the pandemic.

“Honorable PM has phoned today. He did mann ki baat (only spoke). It would have been fruitful if he had spoken about the burning issues and concerns and listened as well,” Hemant tweeted in Hindi at 11.19pm on Thursday after Modi spoke to him and chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Telangana.

Modi’s Mann Ki Baat, is a monthly televised programme he initiated after becoming Prime Minister in 2014. In it, he interacts with people on various issues.

Ever since Hemant became chief minister in December 2019, he hasnot shied away from speaking out against Modi and his government’s style of functioning, accusing the Centre of attempting to distort cooperative federalism, blocking release of funds, among others. Even after the PM’s video interactions with CMs over the last one year to discuss the handling of the Covid situation, Hemant has on multiple occasions criticised Modi for not allowing Jharkhand to put across its concerns at the interactive forums.

But Hemant's latest jibe at the PM upset the state BJP with several leaders choosing to hit back. BJP’s Godda MP Nishikant Dubey said, “Dear PM, my CM is only interested in things like sand scam, coal scam, murders, rapes etc. Moreover, my CM doesn’t remember anything after the evening.”

BJP's Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth said, “The country’s PM has called a CM of a state to know about the covid situation. This wasn’t a call for political discussion. Being a CM, you should have had some courtesy. The way you speak is also an insult to the people of this state, for whom a concerned PM had phoned.”

Jharkhand's Covid situation turned worse since the last week of March this year, with the rapid growth of new infections as well as fatalities. Of the total 60,633 active cases, more than 80 per cent tested positive in the last six weeks. More than half of the 3,479 deaths in the state have been recorded only since April this year, increasing the state’s Covid mortality rate to 1.28 per cent against a national average of 1.10 per cent. During the first wave, Jharkhand's Covid mortality rate never touched 1 per cent.