Team News Riveting
Ranchi, August 8
Babulal Marandi, a popular and powerful face in the political cauldron of Jharkhand, is fighting the JMM-Congress-led government from “sideline”.
For, the alliance government of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress is strategically skipping to appoint the first Chief Minister of Jharkhand as the Leader of Opposition. Marandi had returned to the BJP after 14 years in February this year.
After quitting BJP, he floated Jharkhand Vikash Morcha (Prajatantrik) that comparatively performed well with the limited resources at the command. The party, which was merged with BJP, had won three seats in the Assembly elections in December 2019.
The BJP however did not miss to recognize his stature and immediately declared him as the leader of its legislature party. With 26 members in the House of 81, BJP is the lone contender for the post of Leader of Opposition.
The JMM-Congress government is however avoiding appointing Marandi. Political analysts observed that the alliance government is well aware of Marandi’s clout among the mass and his popularity. “Hence it is dilly-dallying giving any room to Marandi to play with,” they said.
A three-member BJP delegation led by Jharkhand unit president and Rajya Sabha MP Deepak Prakash met governor Draupadi Murmu and submitted a memorandum seeking her intervention in appointing Babulal Marandi as leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.
Prakash said chief minister Hemant Soren wanted that the House runs without a leader of the Opposition. It is an overt disregard of democratic norms, he added.
