At least two regional parties of Jharkhand have started weighing their prospects in the upcoming Assembly polls in neighbouring Bengal.

While chief minister Hemant Soren who is also the working president of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is set to address a public meeting at Jhargram on Thursday, Asju party chief and former deputy chief minister Sudesh Mahto already attended a party workers’ meeting at Baghmundi in Purulia district on Sunday.

“Hemant Babu will first address a public meeting at Jhargram on Thursday and we will then sit together for finalising other issues related to the upcoming Assembly elections in Bengal,” JMM general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya informed on Sunday.

The JMM enjoys considerable support of the local people in Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Malda and Dinajpur, besides in Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram and West Midnapur, he claimed, adding they were yet to finalise about fielding candidates in any particular seats in those areas.

The JMM that claims support in certain pockets in Bengal, Bihar and Odisha had also contested eight Assembly seats, albeit unsuccessfully, in the recent Assembly elections in Bihar.

“Sudeshji is attending a meeting of the party workers at Baghmundi in Purulia district today,” Ajsu party’s central spokesperson Deosharan Bhagat informed on Sunday.

“We consider Jungle Mahal comprising Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram and West Midnapur as a part of greater Jharkhand and demand there should be a Manbhum-Junglemahal Territorial Administration (MJTA) for better development of the region,” he further informed

Mukundan C Menon award given to Father Stan Swamy

S Balan (third from right in picture) presents the award to Father Joe Xavier who received it on behalf of Father Swamy at a virtual ceremony on Sunday.

The National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation (NCHRO) presented the Mukundan C Menon award at a virtual ceremony to Father Stan Swamy, who is at present in Mumbai’s Tiloja Central Jail after being picked up by the NIA last year for his alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon case.

The award, instituted in memory of the noted journalist and human rights activist Mukundan C Menon, was presented to the octogenarian Jesuit priest who “had dedicated his life for the rights of Adivasis in Jharkhand” by S Balan, an advocate and president of the Karnataka chapter of the NCHRO.