Reacting sharply on merger of former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi’s Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on Sunday said that it was against the mandate and Marandi should resign as MLA from Rajdhanwar before joining BJP.
Addressing a Press meet at the party headquarter, JMM General Secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said that as the State Government is investigating all the works started during the tenure of the former governments, it will also investigate the Manhunt scam which happened when Marandi was the CM. “So he fears also that the Government would interrogate him for the matter. It was premonition since a very long time that Marandi would join BJP. After contesting Lok Sabha election in coalition with JMM, Congress and RJD his party contested the State Assembly elections on its own,” he added.
It may be mentioned here that Marandi led JVM contested at all 81 seats in the State Assembly elections and won only three seats. Apart from Marandi, two JVM candidates won their seats - Pradip Yadav from Poraiyahat and Bandhu Tirkey from Mandar. In January, JVM officially announced Tirkey’s expulsion and Pradip Yadav was also expelled by the party on February 5. Expulsion
of both the leaders paved the way for the smooth merger of JVM in BJP.
Bhattacharya alleged that Marandi helped BJP in past also when BJP got only 37 seats in 2014 State Assembly elections and needed four more MLAs for majority in the house of 81 members. “He convinced his six MLAs to merge with BJP as political commodities. This time also when two other MLAs denied merging with BJP then Marandi decided to join BJP alone,” he added
Mocking Marandi for his repeated comments on 10th Schedule of the Constitution of India when Six MLAs of JVM had joined BJP in 2014, Bhattacharya said Marandi should remember his words from 2014.
When asked about the suspension of Additional Director General of Police Anurag Gupta, the party General Secretary said that the party is not taking any step with evil will, it was decision of Election Commission of India (ECI) but the former Government was not following the decision of ECI, this Government is following the decision as everyone has seen the video footage showing how Gupta supported the ruling party and its Chief during the Rajya Sabha elections.