Jharkhand kissing competition: Organising MLAs asked to step down

A kissing competition organised in Dumaria village of Jharkhand has outraged many.

The BJP has come down hard on the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leaders involved in organising the event, demanding an apology and their immediate suspension from the state assembly.

The demand was made by Jharkhand's BJP vice-president Hemlal Murmu who said that Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MLAs and co-organisers of the competition, Simon Marandi and Stephen Marandi, had insulted the culture of Santhal Pargana.

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"JMM MLAs Simon Marandi and Stephen Marandi have insulted the culture of Santhal Pargana in the name of Hul Mela and organised the kissing competition. We demand their suspension from the House and not allowing them to attend the winter session starting tomorrow," state BJP Vice President Hemlal Murmu told reporters at Ranchi. Murmu called the competition "an insult to women power" stating that a boy and a girl don't even shake hands in the area.

Simon Marandi is JMM MLA from Littipara in Santhal Pargana. Party MLA Stephen Marandi was also present at the fair.

The organisers of the event shared that the competition was organised with an aim to bring down the divorce rate among married couples.

Reportedly, the kissing contest was a part of Dumaria's annual fair that includes activities like tribal dance, archery, running among others.

Simon Marandi told PTI that the competition was organised among 20 pairs to strengthen the bond among married couples.

He further noted that nobody is trying to understand the Santhal society.

Jharkhand's rural development minister and BJP leader Neel Kanth Singh Munda has also condemned the incident stating it an insult to tribal society. Simon Marandi was criticised for giving away prizes to the winners.

(With inputs from PTI)