Jamshedpur, Oct. 24: The birth of a new state political outfit is in the offing. The Jharkhand Disom Party (JDP), a social outfit floated a year ago by the BJP MP from Mayurbhanj, Orrisa, Salkhan Murmu, is applying to the Election Commission (EC) for registering it as a political organisation.

The president of the party, Sumitra Murmu, who is also the wife of the MP, has urged the Commission to register JDP as a state-level political outfit. Other senior members of the JDP are also signatories in the application that was sent to the EC early in September this year.

“We are awaiting the approval of the EC. The moment it comes we shall make public the future political agenda of the JDP,” sources in the organisation told The Telegraph.

Although the Murmu couple was unavailable for comments, the working president of JDP Arjun Marandi, confirmed the move of the JDP of applying for registration as a political outfit. “In fact after we had applied in September we had received a query from the EC asking us to clarify some technical points. We had furnished the reply promptly,” Arjun said.

Party insiders, however, hinted that the JDP would be contesting the forthcoming assembly elections in the state slated to take place some time early in 2005. “Getting registered with the EC as a political party is the first step that the JDP has taken as a countdown for the poll preparation,” sources said. It was also learnt that though the party has not yet taken the final decision on the symbol that it would be using for the elections, yet it would be something related to the tribals. A final decision on this aspect would be taken after the party gets an affiliation from the EC.

When asked who would be leading the new political outfit sources indicated that Sumitra Murmu would be heading the organisation. “But the BJP MP would be the guiding force behind the party as important decisions would be finalised after consulting Salkhan Murmu,” sources said.

Ever since its inception, the JDP has been clamouring for a better treatment of the Adivasis and the moolvasis of the state. “The proposal to contest the polls has been doing rounds within the party for a long time. Innumerable number of discussions and meetings were organised and the common opinion from the party’s rank and file was that the JDP must get a political affiliation from EC and must contest the polls in the state. In September this year we formally applied for it,” sources said and hinted that the outfit would also fight polls in West Bengal and Orissa.

Sources indicated that for the moment Salkhan Murmu cannot head the party since he is already a member of the BJP. When asked what would happen if Murmu’s repeated outbursts against the state BJP leadership, including the chief minister Babulal Marandi, cost him suspension from the party, a senior functionary of the JDP replied that the “party would welcome it.”

The think tank of the JDP claimed that if Salkhan is taken to task (read suspended from BJP) it would help him on three counts. “Firstly Salkhan would be free to head the JDP that is his baby. Secondly we can go to the tribal and moolvasi electorate of the state educating them of the price that Salkhan had to pay for taking up cudgels on their behalf. And lastly it would relieve us from oft-repeated allegations of our opponents that the JDP is a wing of BJP,” sources said.