An ongoing massive eviction drive in Jharkhand, which has bulldozed hundreds of homes and made thousands homeless amid violent protests, became politically enmeshed on Sunday when senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha demonstrated on behalf of the homeless and against his own party’s government.
Mr Sinha’s open participation in an anti-eviction demonstration prompted the Opposition Congress, which vociferously opposed the eviction drives and staged demonstrations last week, to describe it as a “shrewd political drama” by the ruling BJP. The senior leader and former Union finance minister’s action also shot up chief minister Arjun Munda’s dilemma.
What made matters politically more volatile for Mr Munda was the death of two people in the past two days reportedly due to psychological shock from the intensity of the eviction drive. Kisun Singh, 65, of Mausibari colony in Ranchi, died on Sunday, five days after the Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) served him an eviction notice, while Indradev Handi, 54, died on Saturday after being evicted from his home in Dhanbad. A young boy had died in police firing during a violent demonstration in Ranchi on April 5.
Despite the razing of illegally built residential and commercial structures in Ranchi, Dhanbad, Bokaro and Jamshedpur having been mandated by an order of the Jharkhand High Court, leading politicians from all major parties have come out on the streets demanding the drive to stop. Congress leader and Union tourism minister Subodh Kant Sahay was the first major leader to sit in an anti-eviction demonstration in Ranchi.
Mr Sinha, currently a BJP MP from Hazaribagh, said: “The eviction drive seems to be an inhuman act due to the manner in which it is being carried out. The people should be first rehabilitated before their homes are pulled down. The ongoing demolition must stop”. He also asked the BJP-JMM alliance government to file an affidavit in the high court.
Senior BJP leaders like Jharkhand Assembly Speaker C.P. Singh and former minister Raghubar Das have already strongly opposed the demolition drive, but it has continued. Jharkhand Congress spokesman Shailendra Sinha said: “These ruling party leaders are part of a shrewd political drama aimed at helping the state government”.