Ranchi, July 21: The Jharkhand BJP on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the Hemant Soren led coalition government, alleging that administrative discipline has collapsed in the state and that the government has lost control over its officials, resulting in weak accountability and poor governance.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP state headquarters in Ranchi, party spokesperson Pradeep Sinha claimed that the alleged disregard for the directions of senior ministers reflected the government’s inability to control the bureaucracy.
“The coalition government in Jharkhand has virtually lost control over officials, leading to a weakening of administrative discipline and accountability,” Sinha alleged.
The BJP cited the alleged treatment of Leader of the Opposition Babulal Marandi by the Deoghar administration as an example of what it described as deteriorating administrative functioning. The party also alleged that officials failed to respond to calls made by BJP state president and Rajya Sabha MP Aditya Sahu, terming it an insult to elected public representatives.
“The disregard for the directives of senior ministers is clear evidence that the government has failed to maintain control over its administrative machinery,” Sinha said, adding that “disregard for public representatives is unacceptable in a democratic system.”
Accusing the state government of misusing the administrative machinery for political purposes, the BJP referred to the earlier sedition case registered against former state BJP president Deepak Prakash, alleging it was an instance of political vendetta. The party claimed the same mindset continued to influence administrative functioning.
Sinha further alleged that a month-long tussle between ministers and officials had exposed serious governance issues and criticised Chief Minister Hemant Soren for not addressing the matter.
“The Chief Minister’s silence on the ongoing tussle between ministers and officials is worrying. He should clarify whether the state administration will be governed by government directives or by the whims of officials,” Sinha said.
He further alleged that the Chief Minister’s silence was “indirectly protecting administrative anarchy, which is not in the state’s interest.”
The BJP demanded that the state government take immediate measures to restore administrative discipline, ensure accountability of officials, and uphold the dignity of democratic institutions and elected public representatives.
The state government had not responded to the BJP’s allegations at the time of filing this report.
