Mob lynching continues unabated in Jharkhand; Congress, RJD also silent: Asaduddin Owaisi

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday hit out at the Hemant Soren government in Jharkhand, alleging that mob lynching continues unabated in the state and ruling alliance partners Congress and RJD were also mum on the issue.

His allegation, made during a public rally in Giridih district to seek votes for his party's candidate Md Abdul Mobin Rizvi in the Dumri assembly bypoll, came after Soren claimed that no mob lynching incident has taken place in Jharkhand since his government came to power in 2019.

"It seems the CM is overloaded with work; hence he forgets. I want to remind him of the killing of Shamshad Ansari in Sikni village of Ramgarh district," he said.

Ansari was allegedly beaten to death by a group of people on August 22 this year for defrauding a villager of Rs 22,000, police said.

Owaisi said Ansari's family members are fighting for justice.

"His family wanted to meet me here today but Congress workers stopped them from coming," Owaisi said.

The AIMIM chief alleged that mob lynching incidents are continuing unabated but the CM is taking no action.

"The Congress and the RJD are alliance partners but they also do not raise a voice against such injustice," he said.

Soren, while addressing an election rally in Dumri assembly constituency on August 17, had said, "Look at the scene before 2019, when some were killed in mob lynching. After 2019, there has not been a single incident of mob lynching."

Owaisi alleged that Jharkhand was given Rs 155 crore by the Centre for development of the minority community but the state government has spent only Rs 5 crore on it.

"In 2019-20, Jharkhand received Rs 5,165 crore under mineral funds. Where has that money gone?" he said.

Speaking on unemployment in Jharkhand, Owaisi said that youths from the state are migrating to Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and other places for jobs as the Hemant Soren government has not established any factory here.

Owaisi said the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is not acceptable as there are several religions and communities and all have their own personal laws.

"Can the Centre implement UCC in tribal states like Jharkhand? It also cannot be implemented in Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan," he said.

The polling for the by-election to Dumri assembly constituency will be held on September 5, and the votes will be counted on September 8.

The by-election was necessitated due to the death of JMM MLA Jagarnath Mahto, the former education minister, in April. The JMM has fielded Mahto's wife Bebi Devi as the candidate of the INDIA bloc, while the AJSU Party has nominated Yashoda Devi as the NDA candidate.

In the 2019 assembly elections, Mahto defeated AJSU Party's Yashoda Devi by a margin of 34,288 votes. AIMIM's Rizvi was in the fourth position with 24,132 votes.