Jharkhand News Desk!! He was the first Chief Minister of the Indian state Jharkhand. Babulal Marandi, who became the first Chief Minister of Jharkhand from a government school teacher, does not need any special introduction. Sometimes RSS Babulal Marandi, a loyal volunteer and dedicated BJP member, after rift with the party in 2006, formed his own new party named ‘Jharkhand Vikas Morcha’ (JVM), through which he became MP by winning the elections from Koderma Lok Sabha seat for two consecutive times. In the 1998 elections, he won the election by defeating Shibu Soren from Santhal, after which 4 MPs from Bihar were given a place in the cabinet in the NDA government, one of them was Babulal Marandi. His son Anoop Marandi was killed in a Naxalite attack in Giridih area of Jharkhand in 2007.
Introduction
Babulal Marandi was born on January 11, 1958 in Kodiya Bank village of Giridih district. He is the founder and national president of ‘Jharkhand Vikas Morcha’ (Prajatantra). He was the Minister of State for Forest and Environment in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He married Shantidevi in 1989. One son was Anoop Marandi, who died in a Naxalite attack in Giridih area of Jharkhand in 2007.
political career
In the 1991 general elections, BJP gave ticket to Babulal Marandi from Dumka (reserved) seat, but he lost the election. BJP again gave him ticket in 1996 elections. However, in this election he lost to Shibu Soren by only 5 thousand votes. After this he was made the state president of BJP. In the general elections held in 1998, BJP managed to win 12 out of 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand under the leadership of Babulal Marandi. At that time Jharkhand was a part of Bihar. In this election he was successful in defeating Shivu Soren. This performance boosted Babulal Marandi’s career and he was one of the four MPs from Bihar included in the Vajpayee government.
NDA’s first rule
In the year 2000, Jharkhand was separated from Bihar and created a new state. Here the ND alliance formed the government under the leadership of Babulal Marandi. According to political analysts, Babulal Marandi started many development programs for the state. One of these was the development of roads. However, Babulal Marandi could not complete his tenure and due to pressure from important allies like JDU, he had to resign from his post in 2003. In his place, Arjun Munda was made the new head of the state. After Arjun Munda became the CM, differences began to arise with the party leadership of Babulal Marandi. In the 2004 general elections, he contested the Koderma Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket. He managed to win from here, while veteran leaders like Union Minister Yashwant Sinha and Rita Verma lost their elections. During this period his differences with the party increased.
Jharkhand Vikas Morcha
In the year 2006, Babulal Marandi resigned from Giridih Lok Sabha seat along with BJP. After resigning, he formed a new party named ‘Jharkhand Vikas Morcha’. Five BJP MLAs also joined his party. In the by-election for Koderma seat, he stood as an independent and managed to win. In the 2009 general elections, he contested the Koderma Lok Sabha seat on his new party’s ticket and was successful in winning. However, in the 2014 general elections he was not successful in saving his seat in the Narendra Modi wave. BJP managed to win 12 out of 14 seats in the state. BJP’s Ravindra Kumar Ray managed to win the election from Koderma.
