Congress party workers on Saturday accused the chief minister Raghubar Das of furthering his own Assembly election agenda instead of working for the welfare of the people at large.

Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Alok Dubey, who along with over 100 party members, gathered for a two-hour protest from noon in front of the deputy commissioner’s office here at Kutchery, said their party would organise similar protests across Jharkhand from Sunday, as directed by state Congress chief Ajoy Kumar.

Before reaching the DC’s office, the party workers took out a rally from Congress Bhavan, holding clay pitchers, placards with anti-government slogans and flags.

“Bijli do pani do, nahin to gaddi chhor do (Give us power and water or leave your chair)”, “Raghubar sarkar wapas jao (Raghubar government, go back)” and “Jo sarkar nikammi hai, woh sarkar dadalni hai (A government that is useless needs to change)” were some of slogans on the placards that the protesters repeated.

“The chief minister is working on his own agenda in the forthcoming Assembly election,” alleged Dubey near the DC office.

“After Lok Sabha elections, the government spent one entire month on the yoga programme (International Yoga Day on June 21 held in Ranchi) even as common people kept complaining of irregular water and power supply. Despite keeping the energy portfolio, the chief minister did nothing to improve power supply,” Dubey added.

He called the Saturday protest “only the beginning”.

“From tomorrow (Sunday), similar protests will be held across the state as Congress state president Ajoy Kumar has given such as a directive. Not just water and power, the state’s law and order situation has also deteriorated. The government promised zero power cuts. But it has failed to supply power for over 10 hours a day,” Dubey said.

Suresh Baitha, the president of rural unit of Congress party in Ranchi district, echoed Dubey, saying on July 2 similar protests would be organised at all 18 blocks of the district. “The problem of water, power and deteriorating law and order exist in every block of the district. These are critical issues,” Baitha said.

President of Adivasi Congress Belas Tirkey echoed Baitha. “Life has become living hell without water and electricity and the government is behaving like a mute spectator. Agitation is the only path to dethrone the government,” Tirkey said.

Vehicular movement on the approach to the DC’s office was partially disrupted as rally went on its way.

Party workers also handed a memorandum to district executive magistrate Shiv Kumar Oraon, warning of a bigger demonstration if water and power problems were not resolved.