Jharkhand 26 July :Jharkhand Deputy Chief Minister Sudhir Mahto defended Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s (JMM) 13-point charter of demands placed before the UPA government in lieu of its "unconditional" support in the trust vote recently.
JMM had assured the Prime Minister to support the trust vote and put forward a 13-point charter of demands for the all round development of Jharkhand, Mahto told a press conference in Jamshedpur on Saturday.
"It was not a conditional support extended by JMM to UPA government for the trust vote but we wanted rapid growth of Jharkhand as it was overlooked by the Centre since its creation, he said claiming that the government had assured to look into the demands seriously.
Asked when JMM supremo, Shibu Soren was expected to be inducted into the Union Cabinet, Mahto said "we are expecting it in the next reshuffle of the Union Cabinet".
Mahto, however, denied that JMM had ever demanded for another deputy chief Minister’s post in Jharkhand.
The JMM’s 13-point demands include setting up of Coal India Limited (CIL) and Damodar Valley Corporation’s (DVC) head office in Jharkhand, Rs 5000 crore package for development of naxal-affected districts of Jharkhand and inclusion of Adivasis living in Assam in the schedule tribe category.
Referring to the hue and cry in neighbouring Orissa and Bengal over JMM’s greater Jharkhand demand, Mahto said the demand was nothing new but the demand of greater Jharkhand comprising of parts of Bengal and Orissa, apart from Jharkhand, was proposed by JMM in 1950. Courtsey DD NEWS