BJP to boycott tribal panel meeting in J'khand: Champai Soren

Senior BJP leader and former Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren on Tuesday said the party has decided to boycott the Tribal Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting as the JMM-led government has allegedly disregarded the tradition. The meeting is scheduled to be held in Ranchi on Wednesday.

''There has been a tradition to form TAC under the chairmanship of the governor of Jharkhand, but the state government has disregarded the tradition. Hence, the BJP has decided to boycott it,'' Soren said.

The tribal panel usually discusses various issues of the indigenous people. In a post on X, the BJP MLA said that although the committee was formed to take decisions in the interest of tribals and advise the government, in the last few years, ''no significant result had emerged in such meetings''.

The government has ''majority representation in the tribal committee. Still, many issues of the tribal society remained pending for long, which indicated the government's indecisive attitude'', he alleged.

The first agenda of the scheduled TAC meeting is to grant licences to open liquor shops and bars in tribal-majority villages'', Soren claimed.

''I have started my social life with the anti-drug campaign. So, I can't attend the meeting, as permissions will be granted to open liquor shops.'' He expressed apprehension that such a move would push the young generation of Jharkhand into the ''quagmire of drugs''.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)