Ever since the Assembly election results were out, the BJP, which won 37 seats on its own, wanted to strengthen its coalition government that is at the mercy of five AJSU Party MlAs. It went all out to woo Babulal Marandi, with eight MlAs, to merge his party JVM with it in order to get a numerical cushion to ensure the government's stability. But Marandi, who quit the BJP in 2006 apparently opposing rising stature of Arjun Munda in the party, might be going through his worst political patch, losing both Assembly seats, has put up a brave face, some would say foolhardiness. He has outrightly rejected the saffron brigade’s offer to merge his party. In an interview with The Pioneer, he revealed behind the scene exercise by the BJP to woo him back; why he nixed the overture and his future plan. Excerpts:
Is your ‘ghar wapsi’ chapter closedIJ
100 percent! The people have not given us a mandate for merger. We honour the mandate given by the people to be among them and will follow the rules of democracy. We have democratically nursed the party and will never like to destroy it. We will be supporting the government for constructive work, but take to streets if it pursued anti-people policies. For example, we are going to oppose the Centre’s ordinance on land acquisition, which is anti-farmer, anti-adivasi and anti-Dalit, tooth and nail.
You held parley Amit Shah in Delhi on the issueIJ
I had some initial dilemma in holding one-to-one meeting with Amit Shah. But I met him in Delhi, cutting short my visit to Assam, on the initiatives of some BJP leaders (not from Jharkhand) in order to kill the rumour being spread by the BJP and also to clear confusion among public and our own partymen. Had I not met him, people would have described me ‘arial’ (rigid). But when Shah insisted on merger, I rejected the offer point bank and thought that the mediators did not brief him about my stand. I said that the JVM could think of extending support. The same night I called my MlAs in Ranchi and placed the BJP offer. The MlAs rejected the merger proposal. Thereafter, I had no choice but to abide by our MlAs’ wish.
Why the BJP is insisting on merger when it has got the majorityIJ
It is for the BJP to reply. What I have understood is that they are spreading such rumours because they are not confident. They are doing it to avoid pressure from the AJSU and hide its own weakness. But they will not be successful.
Will you support the BJP in futureIJ
In future too, I will take my MlAs into confidence before taking any such decision.
But why are you not joining when your bête noire Arjun Munda is not in the hot seatIJ
Those who talk like this do not understand me properly. They see the world from other’s spectacles. I had no personal enmity with Arjun Munda nor I considered him my political rival. I quit the party when I thought the BJP was not functioning properly. Munda has his own style of functioning and always been cordial with me.
Are you disappointed after the BJP went for a non-tribal CMIJ
Anyone can become a CM in a democratic system. There should not be an opposition on the ethnic issue. But we will keep watch on new CM Raghubar Das because a major chunk of population in Jharkhand happens to be of tribals, who had fought for a separate state. So, the new CM should not ignore the tribal interests. If he does, people will take no time to resist the anti-tribal move and vent their anger.
How will you keep JVM relevant in the next five yearsIJ
The BJP-AJSU is in power with just 35 percent of votes. The rest 65 percent people are not with the ruling combine. Even if we take out JMM’s 20 percent vote, still there are 45 percent of population who have neither voted for the BJP nor the JMM. So, we have readymade constituency of the 45 percent people of the State. The BJP thrives on pro-Hindu gene, while JMM on pro-tribal. On the other hand, development remains our only agenda. It is in our DNA. Also, the BJP had not taken a giant leap in this election. In 2000 too, it had got 33 seats; in 2005, 30. It is just seven more than the 2005 tally. And compare the resources and central leaders, who were deployed in 2005 and 2014. So, we hold a hope in future. After all, politics is a game of possibilities.