The recent meeting between industrialist Gautam Adani and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren at the latter’s residence in Ranchi has set off speculations in the state’s political circles and has also provided the Opposition BJP with ammunition to target the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led state government.
The nearly two-hour meeting on Saturday, the first since Soren took over as CM for an unprecedented second consecutive term last year, was conducted behind closed doors, according to sources. “The Gondalpura coal block in Hazaribagh district, which was put up for auction to Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) in 2020, and the Godda project, the state’s largest ultra supercritical thermal power plant, were the main topics of discussion during the meeting,” a source told The Indian Express.
As the Jharkhand chief minister and the central government are at odds over outstanding mining debts totaling Rs 1.36 lakh crore, the Adani-Soren meeting has created a lot of talk about Soren exploring other options to lessen reliance on PSUs under central government control and look for alternative investments.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi led the JMM and Congress, two parties that are part of the Opposition INDIA bloc, in their repeated attacks on the BJP in the lead-up to last year’s Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly elections, accusing it of “cosying up to industrialists like Adani.” In November of last year, the Telangana Congress government led by Revanth Reddy went so far as to deny Adani a Rs 100-crore donation to the projected Young India Skill University in order to emphasize its position and demonstrate its separation from the business magnate.
Babulal Marandi, the leader of the opposition in the Jharkhand Assembly, cited previous accusations and urged the Congress to “break its silence and clarify its stand.” It is now necessary to question individuals who previously made misleading claims that the BJP was warming up to Adani, from the chaurahas (streets) to the sadan (assembly). What private conversations did the CM have with him, and why did they meet at the office rather than at his house? Is not this hypocritical? While they meet with Adani in person, they also criticize him on the other hand. Marandi told The Indian Express, “Such private meetings only indicate that something fishy is up.”
While the mining project in Gondalpura is encountering strong opposition from the locals, which is causing a delay in the acquisition of 500 acres, the Godda project currently produces 1,600MW of power per day, which is sent to neighboring Bangladesh.
Marandi further noted that the ruling MLAs, Stephen Marandi of the JMM and Pradeep Yadav of the Congress, had lately voiced concerns about land purchase in Godda, claiming that the procedure was in violation of the Santhal Parganas Tenancy (SPT) Act and the Resettlement Act, 2013. A panel headed by Chief Secretary Alka Tiwari was later established by the Soren administration to examine the legality of the land given to the Adani company for the project.
