Ranchi, Feb 18 The first Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Babulal Marandi who recently rejoined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after 14 years, has vowed to bring back the BJP government in the state.
After the merger of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) with the BJP, he claimed that a strong BJP government will be formed in the state in the next Assembly elections.
In an earlier interview to on Monday, Marandi said he is ready for any responsibility he gets in the BJP.
While speaking at the Jagannathpur ground here on Monday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah also indicated that Marandi will be given a big responsibility.
It is believed that the BJP, which suffered a setback in the recent Assembly polls in the state, will now look to increase its mass base among the tribals in the state with the help of Marandi.
In another interview to on Tuesday Marandi revealed why he rejoined the party after 14 years.
Marandi said: "The top leaders of the BJP had been asking me to rejoin the party since I left it for some reasons in 2006. But it was difficult to convince myself. Union Home Minister Amit Shah even sent a leader who offered me a Rajya Sabha seat after I lost the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in 2014. People would have made fun of me that I joined back the BJP just for a Rajya Sabha seat. But now looking at the condition of the country and the state it was the right time to merge the JVM with the BJP. Om Mathur played a crucial role in this. Most of the JVM workers were also of the same opinion."
On the defeat of the Raghubar Das government in Jharkhand, Marandi said: "There is no single reason for the defeat. Candidates, leaders, party workers and the person himself are also the reasons for the defeat."
On his goal after rejoining the BJP, the former CM said: "Since I belong to a tribal community, I will try to connect more people from the community with the BJP."
He also targeted the Hemant Soren government, saying he wants the Soren government to run properly but it is not meeting the expectations of the people. The government is running on Twitter, he said.
The Chief Minister says that the treasury is empty, but he is not working to fill it up, said Marandi.
Targeting the government over law and order, Marandi said the problem of extremism in the state is increasing. So many people lost their lives in Giridih due to spurious liquor but the government didn't take any action, he added.
(Navneet Mishra can be contacted at navneet.m@.in)
( With inputs from IANS )