Marandi refuses to eat his own words

DUMKA: Though Babulal Marandi, the national vice-president of BJP and former chief minister, seems to be pacified now after his meeting with CM Arjun Munda and other party leaders at the residence of former Union minister Yashwant Sinha in Hazaribag on Oct 3, speculations are still on in Dumka about his unexpected outburst against his own government, and then, his mysterious silence.
Earlier, Marandi, while talking to mediapersons here, had astonished all by openly expressing his ire against the poor performance of Munda government. He had stated that public expectations with the nascent state had been belied in the Munda regime.
Surprisingly, neither Munda nor the party high command took exception to his utterances. While Munda showed his humility by saying that Marandi was like his elder brother and he would try to take him into confidence, Yashwant Sinha termed the episode as an issue between the organisation and the government.
Local political observers question whether a disciplined party man like Marandi could issue such statements, which had put his own government in the dock, without consulting the party high command.
Shyamal Singh, a prominent Congress leader of the area, terms the whole controversy as an "stage-managed show". According to him, the party is using Marandi as a safety valve, as it knows that people of the state are annoyed with the BJP government.
Some people, who know Marandi closely, say that by pointing out the weaknesses of his own government, he wants to get rid of his responsibility in advance if the party does not perform well in the forthcoming assembly elections. They argue that in the recently concluded parliamentary elections, Marandi had won the Koderma seat on his own as the party had lost the remaining seats in Jharkhand.
The fact is also intriguing that even after his "patch-up" with the CM, Marandi has not expressed his regret over his remarks. On the contrary, he declined to take his words back and told mediapersons that whatever he had said was not his "extreme reaction".
Party insiders say that Marandi has become inevitable for the party in Jharkhand, as, without his active support, it could not face the challenge of JMM, Congress and RJD alliance in the assembly election. Though Munda has developed a good rapport with the party president, other national leaders of the party give Marandi more importance. Sources said that in the dispute between Marandi and Munda, most of the BJP leaders gave moral support to Marandi, but, for the sake of unity, they advised him to keep cool.