Setting the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha and Jharkhand Assembly elections, the newly appointed state BJP president Babulal Marandi today slammed the Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leadership, accusing them of allegedly indulging in corruption and vote-bank politics.
Training his guns on State Government Marandi charged that during the tenure of JMM/Congress government since 2019 the state government has only indulged in corruption and looting state resources along with doing appeasement policy.
On Tuesday, the BJP national president appointed Marandi as state president replacing Deepak Prakash. Marandi today tweeted, “JMM is going to be wiped out in Jharkhand. Congress has become a "lame" party. There is a "trouble" among those who make immense money, who fill their homes by looting natural wealth and poor tribals, who hand over the keys of the government to brokers and middlemen and who establish a "loot system" in Jharkhand.
In another tweet Marandi said that students and youth are frustrated due to unemployment during the JMM government. There is no one to listen to them. People associated with JMM are looting with both hands through illegal businesses like sand, coal, stone, liquor etc. There is a sense of insecurity among businessmen and women due to deteriorating law and order situation. Everyday the news of rape, murder, extortion becomes the headlines of the newspapers.
Babulal further said that the people around CM are implicated in corruption charges one after the other. Instead of getting the poor people of Jharkhand to work in government offices, money is being asked indiscriminately. No development work is happening anywhere. Just make Jharkhandis fight with each other, create tension in the society and maintain the rule of your family. There is not much time now. The darkness will end, the sun will rise, the lotus will bloom. Let's fight together comrades.
The BJP on Tuesday appointed new party presidents for the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Punjab as part of a significant administrative reform. Marandi from 2000 until 2003, served as Jharkhand's first chief minister.
Marandi is also a four-time MP and served as the Union minister of state (MoS) for forests & environment from 1998 to 2000 under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government. BJP had won 12 out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand during undivided Bihar in 1998. In 2000 when a separate state was carved out, BJP named him as the state's first chief minister. However, due to Domicile policy he resigned from his post and also quitted BJP. In 2006 he formed JVM(P) and also had an alliance with UPA, but was not successful.
In 2020 after the Assembly election he decided to make Ghar wapsi and merged his party (JVM) with BJP. BJP leaders claim that making Marandi as state president will help BJP especially in consolidating its vote bank among tribals in Santhal and Kolhan region.