The mortal remains of State Education Minister Jagannath Mahto were consigned to flames at his ancestral village in Bokaro district on Friday. Mahto, suffering from lung infection, breathed his last at a hospital in Chennai on Thursday. His body reached Ranchi on Friday morning. In the State capital, leaders cutting across party lines paid tributes to him at the Assembly and at JMM party office in Harmu.
The last rites of Mahto was attended by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Assembly Speaker Rabindranath Mahato, Minister Mithilesh Thakur, Minister Satyanand Bhokta, Badal Patralekh, Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji along with and many leaders, activists and JMM supporters.
Son Akhilesh Mahto performed the last rites as per family tradition amidst a mournful situation. Earlier, mortal remains of Jagarnath Mahto were brought to his house in Argali village from Ranchi. Four-time Dumri ( Giridih district) MLA of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Jagarnath Mahto died at MGM Hospital Chennai ( Tamil Nadu) on Thursday morning during treatment.
As the body of the minister came to his village by road from Ranchi in the afternoon thousands of supporters, JMM workers and villagers were chanting different slogans like Long live Jagarnath Mahto.
Condoling the death of Jagarnath Mahato, AJSU party chief Sudesh Kumar Mahato said that a chapter in the political history of Jharkhand has come to an end with the death of Jagarnath Da. He had a deep connection with the public and was always ready to address public issues. Jagarnath Da, was soft-spoken and social nature, was loved by both the parties and the opposition. His absence will always be felt in the politics of Jharkhand, AJSU chief said in his condolence. The AJSU chief was in Argali village attending the funeral.
Giridih MP Chandraprakash Chowdhary said that he was a leader who cared for the poor, the person standing at the last rung of the society. His untimely departure has created a deep void in the politics of Jharkhand.
Mahoto is survived by four daughters and a son. After the passing away of the leader, the state government declared a two-day mourning period and also cancelled a cabinet meeting that was scheduled on Thursday.
Mahto was born on January 1, 1967. He represented the Dumri Assembly constituency as a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MLA. Mahto was considered a popular and strongman in the region. Though first time in the 2000 assembly election, he lost to Lal Chand Mahto of the Janata Dal United (coalition partner of BJP), thereafter he never looked back. In the last assembly election of 2019, he defeated Yashoda Devi of AJSU (P) by over 36,000 votes.
He became MLA for the first time from the Dumri constituency in Giridih district in the 2005 assembly election defeating Lal Chand Mahto.