Babulal Marandi

Some Lesser Known Facts About Babulal Marandi

• Babulal Marandi is an Indian tribal activist, politician, and member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He gained recognition as the first Chief Minister of Jharkhand from 2000 to 2003. He established the regional political party Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) in 2006 and has been elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) five times. In July 2023, he made news following his appointment as the president of the BJP in Jharkhand.

• During his time at Ranchi University, Marandi became a pracharak in Bihar after joining the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

• After he finished his formal education, Marandi began working as a teacher at a primary school in his hometown. However, after a year of teaching, he decided to leave the job in order to dedicate more time to the RSS.

• He held the position of organizing secretary for the Vananchal Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) from 1983 to 1990. During that time, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) referred to the Jharkhand region as Vananchal since Jharkhand was then a part of the state of Bihar.

• In 1983, Marandi moved to Dumka to serve in the Santhal Parganas division.

• He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1989 after leaving the RSS.

• He became the president of the Bihar State Adivasi Morcha in 1992.

• Marandi lost the 1995 Bihar state assembly polls to a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate named Stephen Marandi.

• He was defeated by Shibu Soren by a margin of 5,000 votes in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections.

• He got 6,01,894 votes and won the 1998 general elections. Under Marandi’s leadership, the party emerged victorious in 12 out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the Jharkhand region during the elections.

• In the same year, he spearheaded a task force intending to foster job creation in the field of Khadi and Village Industries, specifically targeting South Bihar.

• He won the 1999 general elections by receiving 5,54,237 votes.

• He had a vital role in the establishment of the state of Jharkhand, which was separated from the state of Bihar in 2000.

• Marandi, while serving as the first Chief Minister, prioritized several development projects including the enhancement of road and rail networks as well as improvements to educational infrastructure. He also put forth the idea of developing Greater Ranchi to address the issue of overpopulation within the city.

• Reportedly, Marandi was removed from his position and replaced by Arjun Munda as the chief minister in 2003 due to pressure from the ruling parties’ coalition, especially JD(U).

• Babulal Marandi resigned from his position as a member of parliament and left the BJP party on 22 May 2006, because of a divergence in political stances. He expressed his reasons for resignation in a letter, and wrote,
  

  We have forgotten that in public life, the nation’s aspirations should be supreme and not that of the individual.”

• Marandi lost the 2019 general elections to a BJP candidate named Annpurna Devi.

  

• The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) merged on 17 February 2020 at Jagannathpur Maidan in Ranchi, Jharkhand. This merger occurred in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda, and former Chief Ministers of Jharkhand, Arjun Munda and Raghubar Das. While giving an interview, Marandi spoke about the merger and said,
  

  BJP was in touch with us since 2014. BJP had contacted us after the Lok Sabha elections and assembly elections in 2014. Right from the very beginning BJP wanted us to merge with them.”

  

  Several MLAs from JVM(P), dissatisfied with the merger between JVM(P) and the BJP, decided to leave the party and joined the Indian National Congress (INC).

• Babulal Marandi is also known for his involvement in environmental conservation efforts.

• He is a travel enthusiast and has been to many countries like Bangladesh, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Malaysia, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, and UAE.