Make Santhal Pargana 'JMM free': Jharkhand CM

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Wednesday called upon the people of Santhal Pargana region in the northeastern part of the state to make the area "free" from the influence of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) to ensure development there.

Addressing a public meeting at the launch of the BJP's 'Johar Jan Ashirwad Yatra' in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Das urged the people to give the BJP another mandate in the Assembly elections slated to be held later this year.

"Make Santhal Pargana free of JMM as it has kept development away from the region... the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) is conspiring again to loot the state. Give the BJP another five years to continue development work," Das said.

The major parties in the grand alliance are the Congress, JMM, JVM-P.

Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have scripted history by fulfilling the dream of "Akhand Bharat" (United India).

The 'Johar Jan Ashirwad Yatra', which was kicked off from here, will traverse through all the 81 Assembly constituencies in the state in the run-up to the forthcoming elections.

The Santhal Pargana region has 18 of the 81 seats.

The region comprises six districts -- Godda, Jamtara, Dumka, Sahibganj, Pakur and Deoghar.

BJP has eight of the 18 seats from the region in its kitty and is targeting to increase its tally from the area to 15 seats in the forthcoming elections, party sources said.

The party aims to retain power by winning more than 65 seats in the 81-seat Assembly, they said.