BJP and JMM were locked in a war of words on Tuesday with the ruling party accusing Hemant Soren of violating tenancy acts to acquire property in Jharkhand and the latter fielding a party general secretary to defend the family’s claims of being an original resident of the state carved out of Bihar in 2000.

“Hemant Soren and his family members purchased acres of land most of which is tribal land. On record there are as many as 32 plots purchased by the Soren family in seven districts of Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Godda, Sahebganj, Dhanbad, Bokaro and Giridih,” state BJP spokesperson Pratul Nath Shahdeo alleged.

The spokesperson went on to explain that in Jharkhand sale, purchase and transfer of ownership of tribal land were governed by the Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act. “In both acts it has been clearly mentioned that only a tribal can purchase tribal land. There is a stringent condition that the buyer must be a permanent resident of the revenue are where the land is situated,” he claimed and went on to ask about the Sorens’ address.

“People are curious to know the permanent address of Shibu Soren. People want to know which district the family comes form,” he said.

Later, JMM general secretary and spokesperson Suprio Bhattacharya refuted the BJP’s allegations and called them a diversionary tactic.

“In every election, the BJP raises the same issue. We are not afraid of a probe,” he said, and added that everybody knew the Sorens were natives of Nemra village in Ramgarh district.

“As for Hemant, Bokaro is where he studied. A house was allotted to Shibu Soren under the government quota. During his college days, Hemant stayed with his father at Morabadi. In Ranchi, he has two addresses. He was allotted a house by the government on Mears Road and his own house is at Harmu,” Bhattacharya said.

Shahdeo also alleged that JMM only pretended to protect the interests of tribals. But in reality, it had always stabbed them (tribals) in the back.

“Hemant Soren and his family members have blatantly violated the CNT and SPT acts,” he said.

The BJP went on to claim that in 2007 the family had acquired 16 plots on a single day in Bokaro district. “In 2015 when the BJP formed the government chief minister Raghubar Das formed a special investigation team (SIT) headed by retired IAS officer Debasish Gupta to probe illegal transfer of government and tribal land,” he said.

The JMM on the other hand accused the BJP of being anti-tribal. “In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had campaigned in Santhal Pargana and said that till he was alive no force on the earth could take away tribal land. Yet the same government grabbed land of tribals in Godda for the Adani power project,” he alleged.