Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren used a review meeting of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected states, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, to highlight issues that he believes reflect the central government's neglect of the state. Soren specifically mentioned the pending royalty of Rs 1.36 lakh crore owed to coal Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).

He stated, "Coal mining in Jharkhand is primarily carried out by subsidiaries of Coal India Limited, and these subsidiaries owe a significant amount to the Jharkhand government. There is an outstanding amount of Rs 1,01,142 crore for non-payment of land compensation, Rs 32,000 crore under the common cause dues category, and Rs 2,500 crore under the washed coal royalty category. I request the Centre to clear the outstanding dues of Rs 1,36,042 crore at the earliest."

Soren had previously accused the central government of adopting a "step-motherly" attitude towards the state due to his repeated demands for outstanding royalty dues, which he claimed led to federal agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) being unleashed against him.

During the meeting, Soren also brought up the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), the Centre's flagship scheme aimed at providing housing for all. He alleged that about 8 lakh eligible beneficiaries in Jharkhand were still deprived of the benefits of this scheme and claimed that the Union rural development ministry was not taking any positive action in this regard despite repeated requests from the state government. He requested the Union Home Minister to provide the benefits to these eight lakh eligible beneficiaries in Jharkhand.

Soren's move is seen by political observers as an attempt to gain political advantage ahead of the upcoming general elections and state Assembly polls by portraying the Centre as neglecting the needs of the state's poor population.

"The issue of housing for the poor is sentimental and is expected to favor the ruling dispensation. Along with this, the demand for a caste census made by Soren on Thursday evening clearly shows the game plan undertaken by Soren to corner the BJP-led Centre," said Sudhir Pal, a veteran journalist.

Soren had previously supported the demand for entitlements to backward social groups, including the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC), in proportion to their population.