BSP to field Salkhan Murmu for Jamshedpur bypoll

Jamshedpur, July 30 (UNI) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) today named Salkhan Murmu as the official candidate for the August 29 Jamshedpur Lok Sabha bypoll.

Announcing this at a press meet here, BSP national general secretary Ram Naresh Arya said party supremo Mayawati had given the nod in favour of Mr Murmu to contest this prestigious seat.

''Mr Murmu is the right person to fit in the party's M-B-D (Muslim, Brahman and Dalit) equation in Jharkhand. He has also been fighting single-handedly for the cause of the tribals and the oppressed classes for long and now we have joined hands with him to strengthen the Adivasi-Dalit combination,'' Mr Arya said.

Mr Arya alleged that injustice had been meted out to the tribals and dalits since long in the state and the BSP would like to bring about ''social engineering -- a process to unite all caste and creed in the society -- with the help of political power.'' He said a national party like the BSP could be a good alternative of the Congress and the BJP, which had ''lost credibility in the state.'' Mr Arya also criticised the Congress and other parties for extending support to an Independent as the chief minister of Jharkhand. ''What is the use of being a national party if it supports an Independent like Madhu Koda. The big parties have lost their identity,'' he said.

BSP national secretary Ram Raksha Pal said the party had demanded to hold panchayat election in the state under the Panchayat Extension Act in Scheduled Areas (PESA) act and the tribals should be given benefit under the fifth schedule of the Constitution. He said a mass awareness campaign would be launched to apprise the people of the fifth schedule and the PESA act.

To a question, Mr Pal said the BSP might join the UPA government at the Centre but the final decision had not been taken yet.

UNI