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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), accusing the ruling alliance of political duplicity over the demand

for a separate Sarna religious code for tribal communities. At a press conference held at the BJP state headquarters, party spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo alleged that the very parties now

protesting for the Sarna code had, during their tenure in power at the Centre, dismissed the demand as untenable. Citing an official letter dated 11 February 2014, Shah Deo pointed out that

the then Union Tribal Affairs Minister, V Kishore Chandra Deo, had termed the demand for a separate Sarna code “impractical”, warning that its acceptance could trigger similar demands from

other religious communities. Advertisement “The rejection was not oral or ambiguous—it was a written communication under the Congress-led UPA government,” Shah Deo said. “Now, when they are

out of power, they are sitting on dharnas. When they had the power, they buried the demand. The people of Jharkhand can see through this hypocrisy.” Advertisement He further demanded that

both Congress and JMM issue a public apology to the tribal community for rejecting the Sarna code in 2014. Describing the present mobilisation as a “drama” and “nothing short of political

opportunism and shamelessness”, Shah Deo said that the BJP stands committed to the cause of tribal identity but will not allow it to be reduced to an electoral gimmick. Other BJP leaders

present at the press meet included Ranchi Metropolitan Minister Ajit Bhagat, ST Morcha Metropolitan General Secretary Ashok Munda, and Women’s Wing Media Co-incharge Soni Hembram. Meanwhile,

the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has announced a renewed campaign for the Sarna code and will hold a statewide protest on 27 May. All district, block, and panchayat units of the party have been

directed to mobilise support. The JMM had initially planned a similar protest on 9 May, which was postponed due to heightened national security concerns following the Indo-Pak military

tensions after Operation Sindoor. Congress, too, has taken a firm position on the matter. Minister Shilpi Neha Tirkey, while attending a social-religious event in Mandar, said that no

caste-based census will be allowed in Jharkhand unless the Centre formally includes the Sarna code. She asserted that religious self-identification is a Constitutional right and accused the

central government of suppressing this by removing the “Others” category from census forms. Tirkey also addressed a Sarna prayer meet in Lapuung block’s Fatehpur Munda Toli village,

reiterating the cultural importance of traditional Sarna symbols and promising infrastructural development at religious sites. The broader political context of the Sarna code issue lies in

the pending national census, in which only six religions have been categorised, leaving out both Sarna and the previously available “Others” column. The Jharkhand Assembly had earlier passed

a resolution demanding recognition of Sarna as a distinct religious category, and the resolution was forwarded to the Centre. Advertisement