Entire system of JMM fake: Himanta on controversy over Jharkhand CM's age

Amid the controversy over Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's age, Assam CM and BJP co-in-charge for Jharkhand Assembly elections Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday called the entire system of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) "fake."

"The entire system of JMM is fake. If you look at the details of their property in the affidavit, their age has also increased... This is a government of infiltrators. If the state government comes to power again, no one will be safe... It is the responsibility of the people of Jharkhand to remove them from power," CM Sarma told reporters.

He further reacted to Congress leader Irfan Ansari's derogatory statements against BJP leader Sita Soren and said that the Jharkhand government took no action against him.

"No action is being taken against Irfan Ansari who made derogatory statements about the people of the tribal community," he added.

Ansari stirred a controversy after he called Sita Soren a "rejected" and a "borrowed" player.

Earlier today, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla said that JMM stands for 'Jhol, Muslim appeasement and Mafia'.

"JMM means 'Jhol, Muslim appeasement and Mafia'. The JMM govt which has set new standards of corruption is now doing corruption in affidavits also. Mr Hemant Soren has aged 7 years in the last 5 years. Similarly, they did corruption and scams," Shehzad Poonawalla said in a self-made video.

Meanwhile, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha said that the people of the BJP have become distracted as everything is "crystal clear."

JMM Rajya Sabha MP and candidate from Ranchi, Mahua Maji said that JMM will win the elections and form the government.

"BJP raises all kinds of issues. They do not want to fight the election on the issue of development. They try to stab you in the back, but they will not succeed. We will win and form the government here," Maji said.

The BJP has alleged that Hemant Soren's age increased by seven years in the last five years. Soren declared his age to be 42 in 2019, but this year, he mentioned in the affidavit that his age is 49.

Elections for 81 seats in the Jharkhand Assembly will be conducted in two phases on November 13 and November 20, with the counting of votes scheduled for November 23.