SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, July 4: Soon after the BJP declared Babulal Marandi as the leader of Opposition in 2020, a senior JMM told this writer and chuckled, “He will never get the LoP status.”
The reason, he explained, is that the JMM faces a major threat from Marandi than anybody else in the BJP. “It was good for the JMM so long as he was out of the saffron camp. Now, he has made a ghar wapsi, we will leave no stone unturned to deprive him of the LoP status and re-establish himself in the BJP,” he had declared.
And the court battle and the proceedings in the Speaker tribunal under the Anti-defection laws thereafter proved it all that the JMM feared Marandi the most.
No wonder, Marandi remained at the forefront of the JMM attack all these years. Marandi too has been the most vocal of the leaders to attack the JMM government, caught neck deep in corruption.
No wonder, Babulal Marandi’s appointment as the BJP president today was seen as a major course correction ahead of the parliamentary and the assembly elections due next year in Jharkhand.
The BJP faces a major challenge from the JMM, a strong regional outfit, in Jharkhand which alongwith the Congress wrested 26 out of the 28 tribal seats in the 2019 assembly elections.
The JMM, which has a strong base among Santhals in Kolhan and Santhal Pargana will face a match in Babulal Marandi, who happens to be the tallest Santhali leader in the BJP, Besides, he also commands a good support base among non-tribals.
One of the major reasons for the electoral debacle suffered by the BJP in the 2019 assembly polls was the party’s decision to continue with the non-tribal Raghubar Das as its chief ministerial candidate.
Das was installed as the chief minister of Jharkhand by the party central leadership after the party won the 2014 assembly polls. His anti-tribal rants, short temper and misbehaviour with party leaders cost the party dearly in the 2019 polls.
The BJP could win only 25 seats in the 81-member assembly, including two of the 28 seats reserved for tribals. Das was the only non-tribal chief minister of Jharkhand, a state that was carved out of Bihar for tribals. His non-tribal status and roots in neighbouring Chhattisgarh became a major election issue.
Marandi will be given free hand by the BJP central leadership to explore the possibility of weaning away disgruntled tribal votes from the JMM.
Marandi’s return to the BJP will also have a positive impact for the saffron party in the tribal areas of the neighbouring states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh which have substantial tribal populations.
Political watchers used to say that though Marandi has returned to the BJP, the cadres are not behind him rock solid. “Second, we miss the spark (of 1998 when he headed the BJP and defeated the formidable JMM chief Shibu Soren in Dumka) in him which could galvanise the cadres and wean away the estranged tribal voters from the JMM,” they pointed out.
They cited the example of Salkhan Murmu who also happens to be an educated Santhali leader, had his roots in the BJP and for whom the JMM is the number one enemy. But he does not have a robust organisation. So, the Santhalis did not believe him and ever voted for his outfit.
Marandi lacked a similar authority even after he merged his outfit with the BJP. Though the BJP appointed him LoP after his ghar wapsi in 2019 but the Speaker did not recognise him and kept him entangled in a legal battle. And it was proving to be a major hurdle to enjoy the whole-hearted support of the party cadres.
Now, with his appointment, he has got the authority to run the party and is not required to look up to anyone to decide his course of action in boosting the party’s base. All the cadres are likely to be united to work with him.
His appointment will not only make an impact in 28 tribal seats but also the rest of the general seats as he enjoys support of non-tribals too.
Moreover, Marandi happens to be a hard-working politician, who always loves to be among party cadres at the grassroot level. So, this capability will definitely make a difference.
Credible face to counter JMM on 1932 and 77 percent job reservation
Political watchers say that Marandi could be the best person to counter the JMM, which won the elections promising the electorates to define locals on the 1932 Khatiyan and hiking reservation to 77 percent. It even got the bills passed by the Assembly, but returned by the Raj Bhawan.
Marandi could be a credible voice to counter these promises, which are not constitutionally valid, as it was he who had first sought to implement these policies after he was appointed the first chief minister in 2000.
“I was the first CM to define locals on the basis of the Khatiyan and reserve 73 percent jobs. The Jharkhand high court, however, struck it down and suggested certain criteria to define a local. I had also reserved 73 percent jobs for all categories of the people which too was struck down with certain guidelines,” he recalled.
“And thereafter I moved out of the government. But I have maintained all these years that Jharkhandis have the first right over the grade III and IV jobs. There is no question of going back on this commitment,” he earlier told this writer.
Marandi said that the JMM has cheated the Jharkhandis, particularly tribals and others, by merely making promises. “But when it came to fulfilling the promises, Chief Minister Hemant Soren did not take adequate legal steps to ensure jobs for the locals and adequate reservation for tribals and OBCs. He merely got the bills passed in the Assembly in a huff when he feared that he was going to be thrown out of power for getting a lease for stone mines misusing his official position. He did not take the required legal steps and so the Raj Bhawan returned both the bills,” Marandi signed off.
