Jharkhand tribal party offers support to BJP in Lok Sabha polls if Centre agrees to recognise 'Sarna dharma'

Jamshedpur: The Jharkhand Disom Party (JDP), a tribal outfit in state, on Thursday said it would support the BJP in five tribal-dominated Eastern region states if the Narendra Modi government grant recognition to Sarna dharma of the adivasis before the approaching Lok Sabha polls. [caption id=“attachment_5812981” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Sarna Dharma is centred around the worship of nature. The JDP made the decision at a meeting of its central committee leaders, party president Salkhan Murmu, a former MP, said in a statement. “We will urge the Union government to recognise tribals Sarna dharma and provide a separate code and column in the census. In return we would support the BJP in five tribal-dominated states of Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand in the 2019 parliamentary poll,” Murmu said. Murmu on Wednesday had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce recognition of Sarna Dharma as a fundamental right during his visit to Jharkhand and Odisha on Saturday. He was a former BJP MP who later formed the JDP.