JMM MLA Dinesh William Marandi
Credit: votesmart.in
Ranchi: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MLA Dinesh William Marandi joined the BJP on Friday after being denied a ticket by his party for the ongoing assembly elections.
Marandi took BJP membership during a poll rally addressed by Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Littipara.
Chouhan welcomed Marandi, who represents the Littipara assembly constituency, into the BJP fold, emphasising that they would work together towards advancing the progress of Jharkhand and focusing on the welfare of its people.
Hours after he joined the saffron camp on Friday, the JMM expelled Marandi from the party for six years.
The ruling party, in its letter to Marandi, stated that he was served a show cause notice on Thursday but he failed to reply within the deadline.
"You are removed from all party posts and expelled from the primary membership of the party for the next six years," the JMM stated in the letter.
Marandi, in his remarks, explained that his decision to leave the JMM was due to the denial of a ticket and alleged threats from the party leadership after he voiced his concerns.
"My father Simon Marandi was one of the founders of JMM, and I worked for years to strengthen the party. But now, I’ve been forced to leave for the sake of Jharkhand's progress," he said.
In the 2019 elections, Marandi had won the Littipara seat in the Pakur district by defeating BJP's Daniel Kisku by 13,903 votes.
Chouhan launched a scathing attack on the Hemant Soren-led government, accusing it of turning Jharkhand into a "hub of corruption, poor governance, and scams".
"The people of Jharkhand are determined to overthrow the corrupt JMM-Congress-led government," he claimed.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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