Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren invited the wrath of
some BJP leaders over his comments after a phone call from Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. Soren on Thursday described PM Modi’s phone call to him on the
COVID-19 situation in the country as the PM’s “Mann Ki Baat”, instead
of business.

“Today the respected Prime Minister called. He only
spoke his ‘Mann Ki Baat’. It would have been better if he would have talked
business and heard the issues,” the Jharkhand chief minister said in a
tweet.

Also read: Modi government failed people of India: Sonia Gandhi on COVID crisis

Soren’s reaction came after Modi spoke to him and the chief
ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Telangana about the COVID-19 situation
on Thursday. Jharkhand is among the 10 states and Union territories that are
collectively accounting for over 75 % of daily COVID-19 deaths in the country,
according to data. The others are Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi,
Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan

Quoting official sources, PTI reported that Soren was
unhappy as he was not allowed to present the issues concerning his state before
Modi and instead, it was only the prime minister who talked about the COVID-19
situation.

Also read: CM Mamata Banerjee’s one condition for all BJP teams visiting Bengal

Responding to Soren’s tweet, Assam BJP leader Himanta Biswa
Sarma said, “Your tweet is not just against minimum decorum but is also a
mockery of the pain of the people of your state, for whom the Prime Minister
called you. You have pulled a despicable stunt. You have lowered the dignity of
the Chief Minister’s post.”

Jharkhand BJP leader Babulal Marandi also attacked Soren in
a tweet. “Hemant Soren is a failed Chief Minister. Failure in governance.
Failure in tackling COVID in the state. Failure to assist people. To hide his
failures he demeans the office he holds. Wake up and work, Mr. Soren. The clock
is ticking,” Marandi wrote.

Also read: COVID-19: Rajasthan imposes lockdown from May 10, bans weddings till May 31

Jharkhand reported 133 COVID-19 fatalities on Thursday,
taking the death toll due to the viral disease in the state to 3,479, while
6,974 cases pushed the state’s infection tally to 2,70,089.

The mortality rate in the state remains higher at 1.28%
against the national mortality rate of 1.10 % . According to a bulletin issued
by the state health department, the recovery rate of COVID-19 patients is 76.26
% in Jharkhand as against the national average of 82 % .