Ex Jharkhand CM Babulal Marandi's JVM merges with BJP; Amit Shah says local leader will get 'due respect and responsibility'

Former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi merged his party Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday at an event that was attended by home minister Amit Shah. Shah welcomed Marandi, the first chief minister of the state and his supporters into the saffron party at a rally in Ranchi.

Shah assured the tribal leader, who was a BJP member before he launched JVM(P) in 2006, that he will get “due respect and responsibility” in the saffron party, PTI reported.

“I am delighted that Babulal Marandi has returned to BJP. I was working for his return since 2014 when I became the party president,” Shah said. “Someone rightly said that he is quite stubborn. We couldn’t persuade him easily. He has now joined BJP as per the wish of the people of Jharkhand.”

“While being in the Opposition, BJP will support the public welfare schemes of the Jharkhand government. But we will oppose attempts of encouraging Naxalism, terrorism, and corruption. We will fight against these issues in and outside the Assembly,” Shah added.

Jharkhand: Babulal Marandi, former Chief Minister and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) chief merges his party with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at an event in Ranchi, in the presence of Union Home Minister & BJP leader Amit Shah. pic.twitter.com/8EiDUHEZQI

— ANI (@ANI) February 17, 2020

The BJP, which had ruled the state since its creation in 2000, was removed from power in the November 2019 Assembly polls. The Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha formed the government with Congress as its ally.

Marandi was the chief minister of Jharkhand from November 2000 to March 2003. A four-time former MP, he gradually drifted away from the BJP and launched his own party.

Marandi had announced the merger with the BJP on 11 February.

The announcement was made a day after Marandi met BJP national president JP Nadda in Delhi.

JVM expelled its MLA Pradeep Yadav from the party’s primary membership on 6 Febryary, days after the MLA met Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi. The party had issued a similar notice to party leader Bandhu Tirkey after which he was expelled from the party.

The JVM(P) had bagged three seats in the Assembly polls. Apart from Yadav and Tirkey, Marandi had won from the Dhanwar Assembly in the Giridih district of the state.

With inputs from agencies