BJP expert at spreading hatred, ₹500 crore spent on campaign maligning me: Soren

Ranchi, Nov 19 (PTI) A day after Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren charged the BJP with "launching a whisper campaign to influence voters", he hit out at the saffron camp again on Tuesday, alleging that the opposition party in the state spent over Rs 500 crore in "malicious campaigns" against him.

Soren also accused the BJP of being an "expert in fulfilling political ambitions by inciting hatred among people".

He claimed that Jharkhand's culture does not allow such "malicious campaigns".

"It is the easiest thing for leaders to fulfil their political ambitions by inciting hateful feelings in you. This campaign is the easiest and the BJP is an expert in it. But I am from Jharkhand - our culture doesn't allow this and I will never do this," Soren claimed in a post on X.

"According to one estimate, the BJP has spent more than Rs 500 crore on shadow, whisper and hate campaigns against me," the JMM leader alleged.

Soren also accused the BJP of bringing in people from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Bengal to campaign against him and allegedly instil fear among voters on roads and intersections during the election period.

"People from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Bengal are seen discussing the elections on roads and intersections in the constituencies where elections are being held. This is BJP's new gimmick, called the 'whisper campaign'. For this, over Rs 1 crore has been spent in each constituency. They will not come and talk about their work, instead, they will scare you with lies," Soren had said, sharing a video of the alleged campaign.

He said there was "no truth to the whisper campaign".

"We haven't collected donations by playing with the lives of the countrymen through electoral bonds, fake medicines, or fake vaccines. Therefore, I appeal to all of you, the residents of Jharkhand, to openly campaign for me today and tomorrow, not in a 'whisper' — because it is not in the nature of Jharkhandis to be afraid," he claimed.

"Don't whisper, speak boldly!" Soren said, sharing a video in which youths sitting in a choupal are seen praising the BJP and criticising the JMM for alleged corruption.

Earlier, Soren had accused the BJP of running "shadow campaigns" to tarnish both his and the state's reputation.

He had alleged that the saffron party spent crores of rupees on various social media platforms and created "95,000 WhatsApp groups" to campaign against the JMM-led coalition in Jharkhand.

In response, the BJP claimed that these allegations reflected "Soren's desperation, frustration, and fear of losing the elections".

Earlier, the Jharkhand Police had registered FIRs against the operators of two social media accounts for allegedly running campaigns aimed at "maligning" the image of Chief Minister Hemant Soren and the state.

These FIRs were filed after Soren and the ruling JMM accused the BJP of running "shadow" campaigns against them.

Soren had previously claimed that "dictators may possess billions of rupees," but he believed it was "better to stick to principles than win through unfair means." The CM also claimed that while the BJP "spent crores of rupees to tarnish his image", he himself had "not spent a single rupee on any promotion", which, he said, could be verified by checking the ad library of any social media platform. PTI