Marandi defies pundits, stages a comeback

RANCHI: When Babulal Marandi, the first chief minister of Jharkand, parted ways with BJP in 2006, his opponents wrote him off, saying he will meet the same fate as that of other party leaders like Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharati. A big section in BJP felt he will have no option but to return to the party fold as there was not enough political space in Jharkhand, most of which was been occupied by BJP and JMM. However, Wednesday’s results have shown that the former chief minister can be down but not out from the political scene of Jharkhand. His party, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM), has not only won 11 seats, against the initial projection of 3-4, but also made the cynosure of Congress, which now feel it can safely go ahead with him in Jharkhand. The Congress-JVM alliance has bagged 25 seats in the 81-member Jharkhand House.

Congress took a long time to seal its alliance with JVM. The Congress leadership, keeping in mind Mr Marandi’s clean image, had in fact wanted JVM to be merged with the former. But Mr Marandi did not agree. And finally, a deal was struck with Congress to contest the assembly elections together. As a result, JMM, former UPA partner, decided to go it alone. For Mr Marandi, a former RSS man, it was a difficult decision to align with the UPA, given the fact that his JVM was basically a breakaway faction of BJP. In fact, a large number of JVM leaders, who had been with him ever since birth of the party, started deserting him saying he was compromising with basic premise of ‘anti-Congressism’. “Most of his cadre were from BJP, for whom accepting Congress ideology was almost impossible. But gradually, he got new support base even as he shifted focus to issues like corruption and development,” said a senior JVM leader.

In fact, before joining the UPA, Mr Marandi was also wooed by BJP for making a comeback in the party. However, this was opposed tooth and nail by the regional stalwarts like Arjun Munda and Raghubar Das, who feared that his comeback will threaten their stature. Mr Marandi began his political career by joining RSS as pracharak and soon became one of the towering leaders of BJP. He was president of the state BJP unit. He was also included in the NDA government at the Centre in 1998. When Jharkhand was formed in 2000, he was made the first chief minister.