Jharkhand: “JMM means Jhol, Muslim appeasement and Mafia,” BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla takes dig at CM Hemant Soren

NEW DELHI: Amid the controversy over Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s age, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla on Friday, November 1 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.

BJP spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo targeted Hemant Soren, alleging discrepancies in his nomination papers.

“There are a lot of differences between CM Hemant Soren’s nominations of 2021 and 2024…in 2021, CM was 45 years old and after 5 years, he became 49 years old, how is it possible? so many assets about which he had mentioned in his 2021 affidavit, have disappeared now,” Deo told reporters in Ranchi.

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.

As the Assembly election nears, the BJP has intensified its attack against Hemant Soren. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren is contesting from the Barhait Assembly constituency.

Kalpana Soren, the JMM leader, filed her nomination as her party candidate from the Gandey Assembly constituency earlier in the month.

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.

A total of 2.60 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes in Jharkhand, including 1.31 crore male voters and 1.29 crore female voters. The state has 11.84 lakh first-time voters and 66.84 lakh young voters.

In the previous assembly election, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha won 30 seats, the BJP won 25 and Congress won 16 seats. (With inputs from ANI)