Jharkhand’s ruling coalition partners JMM and the Congress attacked the BJP-led government at the Centre on Wednesday for sanctioning a meagre Rs 8.67 crore from PM CARES Fund and giving a raw deal to the state in the recently announced Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan scheme.

Their accusations came on a day the Opposition BJP kicked off a public connect drive by carpet bombing several campaigns across the state by involving former chief ministers Raghubar Das and Babulal Marandi to celebrate one year of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second stint.

Talking to media, state Congress spokesperson Alok Dubey said, “On Monday, the Centre released Rs 8.67 crore from its PM CARES Fund to Jharkhand to fight Covid. The state’s population is about 3.74 crore, which means Modi government’s assistance to every person in Jharkhand is Rs 2 per head.”

Another spokesperson, Lal Kishorenath Shahdeo, added that Jharkhand had also been ignored under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan scheme. “While finer details are yet to arrive, but we have learnt that only three districts have been selected under this while in BJP ruled states, more than 70 per cent districts are covered,” he said.

Saying that the scheme will be yet another jumla in coming days, Shahdeo said, “What happened to skill India, Start-up India and a host of many such schemes?” he said.

JMM too ran a twitter campaign from its official handle ridiculing the Modi government on these issues and daring BJP members and MPs in the state to question why Jharkhand was given such a raw deal.

A JMM functionary said, “The irony is that the BJP which won 13 out of 14 parliamentary seats in last year’s Lok Sabha polls doesn’t care about the state. Three former chief ministers who ruled the state too couldn’t muster the courage to question their central leadership.”