Ranchi, June 25: Governor Droupadi Murmu is understood to have returned unsigned the Chotanagpur and Santhal Pargana tenancy Act amendment Bills to the Raghubar Das government with queries.

Chief secretary Rajbala Verma, who is learnt to have received the unsigned Bills, and governor's principal secretary S.K. Satpathy, kept mum although a vernacular daily today reported that Murmu sent back the Bills, asking how tenancy land amendments would help the common masses.

A senior IAS officer at the CM's secretariat confirmed to The Telegraph that the governor did return the Bills to the chief secretary's office a week ago with queries but declined to specify those.

Controversial for allegedly easing the way to transform tribal land into industrial, the CNT and SPT Act amendment Bills - to facilitate use of tribal agricultural land for non-farm purposes - were passed by the Raghubar Das government by voice vote in a heated Assembly on November 23 last year and sent to the governor for approval.

Chief minister Das, in hometown Jamshedpur today, could not be reached to speak on this issue despite repeated requests to his staff at his Agrico residence.

In Ranchi, many BJP leaders, including J.B. Tubid who had lobbied for changes in tenancy acts, remained tight-lipped. State BJP general secretary Deepak Prakash said: "I have not got authentic confirmation."

But, BJP's veteran Khunti MP Kariya Munda, a former Union minister, who openly opposed the Bills, today spoke out, dubbing the chief minister Das an " ati kabil aadmi (over-competent man)".

"I opposed and will keep opposing them (the amendments) because they are not in tribal interest. The government need not address the governor's queries. It can get the Bills passed by the Assembly again after which it will be obligatory for the governor to give her consent. But, it will be a historical blunder," he said.

Leader of Opposition Hemant Soren, in Delhi now, called the amendments "draconian." If the BJP government goes ahead with its anti-tribal mindset, we will intensify our agitation," Hemant said over phone.

JVM chief Babulal Marandi said the government should work for "public welfare instead of corporate welfare".

For over seven months, the Das government has said the Bills would speed up the wheels of development in the tribal heartland.

The government has pointed out the amendment Bills, under Section 13 of SPT Act and Section 21 of CNT Act, specified land ownership rights of raiyats (land-holders) would stay unchanged even after transfer of farmlands for non-farm purposes. If the land in question was not used for five years for the purpose it was acquired, it would automatically be given to its owner, the government has stressed.

But, the Opposition dubbed the Bills a ploy of the ruling dispensation to please industrialists at the expense of tribals and original settlers. It also said that once a plot was used for non-farm purposes, restoring it to the original owner would not be easy, no matter what the law might say.

Das faced black flag protests for his stand on the Bills, which stirred up strong murmurs of discontent from even within the BJP from the likes of former chief minister Arjun Munda, party veteran Khunti MP Kariya Munda, former party president and Borio MLA Tala Marandi, among others. BJP ally Ajsu Party opposed the amendments openly.

Opposition leaders of the JMM, JVM and Congress had appealed to governor Murmu's tribal origins and asked her not to act against the interests of indigenous people.

Murmu, on her part, has been cautious to the extreme.

Earlier, speaking to this reporter, the official at CM's secretariat commented on the governor holding on to the Bills for too long. "The governor's office unnecessarily kept the Bills pending for over six months which gave Opposition parties the chance to politically charge the atmosphere. Ideally, such important Bills should be passed or dismissed quickly," he said.

Personally, he favoured the Bills, he said. "People can know about beauty and benefits of tenancy amendments only if they are implemented," he said. "But, faced with this kind of criticism and confusion, the Bills may be rolled back. It's an uneasy situation."

A BJP leader and Das loyalist said otherwise. "The Other Backward Classes, who comprise a vast section under CNT and SPT Acts, had not opposed the amendments. Let's wait and watch," he said.