Shibu Soren addresses people in Jama on Saturday. Telegraph picture

Dumka, July 31: This was a visit they had been waiting for almost two years now. But in the end, the people of Dumka remain a disappointed lot.

JMM chief Shibu Soren, who is on a tour of his constituency for the first time since winning the Lok Sabha elections in 2009, failed to hold out much hope for the villagers, who poured out their woes before the MP.

At a public meeting in Jama yesterday, where villagers informed him about the dilapidated condition of rural roads in Masaliya block, all Guruji could come up with was: “Sab kuch sarkar ke bharose nahi hota hai, janta ko bhi apne hak ke liye ladna padega (The government cannot do everything alone. The masses will also have to fight for their rights).”

Instead of promising to take serious steps against the engineers and officials involved in these projects that were recently completed, the JMM chief said: “You should remain alert at the time of construction of these roads to ensure quality work.”

Reacting to complaints that different social security schemes like Indira Awas yojana, BPL cards and old-age pension schemes were not being implemented properly, Soren, also the chairman of state co-ordination committee, blamed the bureaucrats. “Officials are paid salaries for serving the people. If they are found to be not carrying their duty, people have every right to register their protests,” he said.

In yet another shocker, he advocated strong-arm tactics by advising the people to teach such errant officials a lesson by taking them hostages. “Gadbadi karne par aap log adhikariyon ko bandh kar rakho. Char din nahin to ek din to aisa karo, hosh thikane ajayega (Lock up the officials if they make mischief. If not for four days, do this for a day. They will automatically come to their senses,” Soren said at a public meeting at Barmasia on Thursday in the presence of chief minister Arjun Munda and his cabinet colleagues.

At Chigal Pahadi, the villagers were particularly unhappy when the JMM supremo did not provide a time frame for the long-pending construction of a bridge over Mayurakshi river between Bediya and Kulhadia. He only said that he would take up the matter at the appropriate level.

The Congress, meanwhile, reacted strongly to Soren’s attempt to pass the buck to the bureaucrats for lack of development in his constituency. “At best, he can influence the state government to take immediate steps to address the miseries of the people. Instead, he is putting the blame on bureaucrats to save his own skin,” senior Congress leader and former Dumka MLA Stephen Marandi told The Telegraph.

“On the one hand, the senior Soren is crying hoarse over underdevelopment and corruption in his constituency. On the other hand, his son Hemant is speaking high of the performance of the Munda government,” Marandi said, adding that the father-son duo were fooling the electorate.