Babulal Marandi
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Babulal Marandi (; born 11 January 1958) is an Indian politician and a prominent tribal leader of the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
(BJP) . He is currently the Leader of Opposition in
Jharkhand legislative assembly The Jharkhand Legislative Assembly, commonly known as the Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral state legislature of Jharkhand state in India. The seat of the Legislative Assembly is at Ranchi, the capital of the state. List of assemblies ...
. He was the first Chief Minister of Jharkhand and the founder of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), which he later merged with BJP. He was the Member of Parliament in 12th, 13th 14th and 15th Lok Sabha from
Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...
. He was also the Union State Minister (MoS) for Forests & Environment of India in the BJP – led
National Democratic Alliance The National Democratic Alliance (NDA; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Rāṣṭrīya Lokatāntrik Gaṭhabandhan'') is an Indian big tent Political group, multi-party political alliance, led by the country's biggest political party, the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...
Government in 1998 to 2000. He was appointed as Jharkhand BJP president on 4 July 2023.


Early life

Babulal was born in a remote Kodia Bandh village under Tisri block of Giridih district of the now
Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...
province. He belongs to
Santal The Santal (or Santhal) are an Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic-speaking Munda peoples, Munda ethnic group of the Indian subcontinent. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal in terms of population and are also found ...
family. After passing high school, he moved to Giridih College from where he did his intermediate and graduation. It was there that he came in contact with the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...
. Later, he moved to Ranchi where he did his post-graduation in Geography from Ranchi University. He worked as a teacher in a village primary school for a year before giving up the job to work for the Sangh Parivar. He served as the organising secretary of the Jharkhand region of
Vishva Hindu Parishad Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian Right-wing politics, right-wing Hindu organisation based on Hindutva, Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Chinmayananda Saraswati, ...
. In 1983, he moved to Dumka and worked in the Santhal Pargana division, which he toured extensively and where he became close to Bishnu Prasad Bhaiya, his then companion. There he used to spend some time at his Jamtara Residence but mainly he used to live in the RSS office in Dumka. Thereafter his journey to Ranchi and Delhi began.


Political career

In 1991, the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
gave him the ticket to contest from the Dumka (Lok Sabha constituency), but he lost. In 1996, he lost to Shibu Soren by just 5,000 odd votes. The BJP, in the meantime, made him president of the party's Jharkhand unit. It was under Marandi's leadership that the party won 12 out of 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand region in the 1998 election. Marandi, a
Santal The Santal (or Santhal) are an Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic-speaking Munda peoples, Munda ethnic group of the Indian subcontinent. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal in terms of population and are also found ...
, led the tally by defeating
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (; ) is a political party in the Indian state of Jharkhand, founded by Binod Bihari Mahato, Shibu Soren, and A. K. Roy. Hemant Soren is the president of the JMM. JMM is also an influential political party in the state ...
leader Shibu Soren, another Santhal. The victory gave an immense boost to Marandi's profile and he was included in the Union Council of Ministers, one of four ministers from
Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
.


First CM of Jharkhand

After bifurcation of Bihar in 2000 in states of Bihar and Jharkhand, NDA came to power in
Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...
with Marandi as the 1st Chief Minister of Jharkhand. Political analysts believe that this government initiated many developmental schemes in the state, the most visible being, improvement of the road network in the state. He also put forward the idea to develop Greater Ranchi to reduce the crowding in the city. However, Marandi's tenure proved rather short-lived, as he had to resign and make way for Arjun Munda for the post in 2003 following pressure exerted by coalition allies primarily Janata Dal United. Thereafter, his increasing moved away from political mainstage of Jharkhand irrespective of NDA being in power in
Ranchi Ranchi (; ) is the capital city and also the largest district by population of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern ...
. In the 2004 Lok Sabha Elections, he contested from Kodarma Lok Sabha constituency as a BJP candidate. He won the seat while all the other sitting MPs of NDA from Jharkhand including union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Reeta Verma lost their respective seats. His differences with the state leadership continued to increase and he even started criticising the state government in public.


Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM)

Marandi resigned from both the Kodarma seat and the primary membership of the BJP in 2006 and floated a new political outfit named Jharkhand Vikas Morcha. He was followed by 5 MLAs of the BJP. In the subsequent by-elections for the Kodarma seat, he contested as an independent candidate and emerged victoriously. Marandi, who was the incumbent MP from Kodarma, contested the elections on Jharkhand Vikas Morcha ticket in the 2009 general election, and retained the seat. But in the
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...
wave of 2014, Marandi's party failed to win any seat in the state as BJP won 12 out of 14 seats; from Koderma, BJP's Ravindra Kumar Ray was elected to Lok Sabha. In February 2020, he merged JVM into BJP.


Bharatiya Janata Party

Marandi merged Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) with the BJP on February 17, 2020, at Jagannathpur Maidan,
Ranchi Ranchi (; ) is the capital city and also the largest district by population of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern ...
in presence of Union Home Minister
Amit Shah Amitbhai Anilchandra Shah (born 22 October 1964) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the 32nd Ministry of Home Affairs (India), Minister of Home Affairs since May 2019 and the 1st Ministry of Co-operation, Minister of Co-operat ...
, BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda and former Chief Ministers of Jharkhand Arjun Munda and Raghubar Das.


Personal life

Babulal Marandi is married to Shanti Murmu. His younger son Anup Marandi was killed in a Naxal attack at Chilkhari village in
Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...
's Giridih district on 27 October 2007.Former Jharkhand CM Marandi on their hitlist, Naxals kill son, 17 more
/ref>


Electoral history


Indian general elections

^by-election


Legislative Assembly elections

^by-election


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marandi, Babu Lal 1958 births Living people Santali people Chief ministers of Jharkhand Chief ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party Lok Sabha members from Jharkhand People from Giridih district People from Koderma district Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Jharkhand Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) politicians Vishva Hindu Parishad members India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1999–2004 India MPs 2004–2009 India MPs 2009–2014 Jharkhand MLAs 2000–2005 Jharkhand MLAs 2019–2024 Jharkhand MLAs 2024–2029