Jamshedpur, Aug. 10: In what could be further embarrassment for the BJP, Shailendra Mahto, the former Lok Sabha member from Jamshedpur and a member of the BJP national council, floated a new political outfit, Lok Adhikar Morcha, a couple of days back.

Considered to be one of the most severe critics of the present NDA government in the state, the new party, which was floated without any fanfare, is an attempt to fight for the right of the non-tribals in the forthcoming panchayat elections in the state. Mahto is the convenor of the morcha.

?I took the decision to float the new outfit after much thought. There is a need for pressure groups to force this insensitive government pay heed to the justified demands of the non-tribals in the state vis-a-vis the panchayat polls,? Mahto told The Telegraph.

Mahto has been advocating the policy of reservation of panchayat seats for non-tribals in those constituencies where the tribal population is less than 50 percent. ?It is sheer discrimination for the non-tribal population on these seats,? commented the former Jamshedpur MP.

The first meeting of the new outfit took place the neighbouring Seraikela-Kharsawan yesterday, the bastion of Arjun Munda. The chief minister won the last Assembly election from Kharsawan.

?The response that we got yesterday from the chief minister?s district was overwhelming. Yesterday?s meeting should be an eye opener for the chief minister to amend the laws or face the fury of the non-tribals in the panchayat polls,? he cautioned.

The morcha formed its district unit in Saraikela-Kharsawan after yesterday?s meeting. ?We shall make the morcha a vibrant organisation to fight against the state government for the legitimate rights of the people of the state,? Mahto said.

Insiders of the morcha said Mahto is already in touch with some of the disgruntled elements of BJP and top members of other political outfits. They have been requested to join the morcha to strengthen it.

Mahto?s relation with the state BJP has been a topsy-turvy one of late. He had accused a section of the BJP leaders of working against his wife and BJP nominee Abha Mahto during the last Parliament polls that saw her face defeat from the Jamshedpur seat. More recently he was denied the ticket to contest the Assembly polls from Ramgarh, a kurmi-dominated constituency, as a section of the state BJP leaders opposed his candidature.

The senior BJP leader had also been critical of the NDA government for its lacklustre performance even since it came to power after the formation of the state.

The two-time MP, however, is non-committal on whether the new party is the first step for severing his ties with the BJP. But sources within the morcha hinted that if Mahto?s new outfit clicks, it is a certainty that their leader would end his decade-long association with the saffron brigade.