Jharkhand Vikas Morcha president and former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi said on Monday that his party respects the mandate of the recently held Assembly polls and will play the role of a constructive Opposition in the State. Talking to newsmen at Circuit House, Marandi said that he accepts the mandate. “His party will play role of a constructive opposition. We will appreciate the developmental activities of the government and support such initiatives,” he said and added that the BJP has claimed to work for the development of Jharkhand and must act accordingly. “People have lots of hopes from the government and the party must fulfill it,” he added.
"We did our best during the elections and were expecting better performance but we accept public mandate. We know our duties very well and will give our best to work on them. Win and defeat are parts of any election. Even leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Shibu Soren had lost elections,” stated Marandi.
When questioned over JVM’s possible merger with the BJP, Marandi failed to give a straight answer. He said, "We have several rounds of talks and I cannot be specific now. I have made my stand clear. I cannot say much on this now.” Marandi also claimed that there were ‘forces’ working during the elections to wipe out the very existence of JVM. “This was the prime reason why the party failed to perform in the elections. The party will also call a meeting to study reasons for the poor show in the assembly polls,” he added.