Jharkhand polls: Babulal Marandi casts vote in Giridih, accuses CM Soren of betraying youths

Giridih (Jharkhand) [India], November 20 (ANI): Jharkhand BJP President Babulal Marandi on Wednesday cast his vote at a polling booth in Giridih for the ongoing Jharkhand Assembly Elections 2024. Following this, he highlighted infiltration and unemployment as major issues in the state and accused incumbent Chief Minister Hemant Soren of betraying the youth.
Speaking to ANI, Marandi encouraged everyone to participate in the elections. "Everyone should exercise their franchise. This is a festival of democracy, and we get this opportunity to vote for the development of the state once every five years. The main issues are infiltration and unemployment. CM Soren has betrayed the youth. We have appealed to the youth to support the NDA this time," he said.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, the BJP-Jharkhand President Babulal Marandi lashed out at the Hemant Soren-led JMM government, accusing it of corruption and failing the people over the past five years.
Speaking on the ongoing assembly elections, Marandi said, "The mood of the people in Jharkhand is to change the Hemant Soren-led JMM government as they have gone through enough pain in these five years, be it old or the youth, everybody has faced a crisis. Hence, today the opportunity has arrived when the people will vote for transformation in favour of the NDA ."
He referred to recent Income Tax Department raids on locations linked to the Chief Minister's assistant, alleging misuse of black money. "It's not possible without black money. If someone is this deep in corruption, what option does he have instead of making allegations against some of our leaders? BJP-NDA will get more than 51 seats, and we are going to form the government," Marandi told ANI.
Marandi had also urged voters via social media to participate in the final phase of voting. He said, "It is a humble request to all the voters to cast their vote for the bright future of Jharkhand. Your every vote is important for providing jobs to the youth, making mothers and sisters self-reliant, controlling crime, and eradicating infiltration and corruption. (Pehele Vote, phir Jaalpaan) First vote, then eat!"
Polling commenced at 7 am across several districts, with voters forming long queues outside booths. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also urged voters to participate enthusiastically. "Today is the second and last phase of the great festival of democracy in Jharkhand. I urge all voters to participate enthusiastically and set a new record for voter turnout," Modi posted on X.
The first phase of voting, held on November 13, covered 43 of the state's 81 seats. (ANI)