Asserting that "state-sponsored infiltration" was a serious threat to Jharkhand, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday said India was not a 'dharmshala' where anyone can come and settle.
Addressing an election rally in Ranchi, he accused the JMM-led ruling coalition of patronising infiltrators, and alleged that they were coming to the state, marrying tribal women by "trapping them in the web of illusion".
"India is not a dharmshala where anyone can come and settle. Foreign infiltrators pose a grave threat to Jharkhand. This country is ours -- our land, water, forests, rivers, mountains, and fields. We will not let anyone else take those from us," he said.
"The JMM-led alliance considers these intruders as its vote bank. In their greed for votes, they are protecting them, getting them enrolled on the voters' list, and helping them get Aadhaar and ration cards. The situation is such that tribal population in Santhal Parganas has come down from 44 per cent to 28 per cent," he claimed.
Chouhan said if the BJP is voted to power in the state, a citizenship register will be made and the infiltrators will be ousted. -- PTI