Babulal Marandi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President ofBharatiya Janata Party, Jharkhand | |
| In office 4 July 2023 – 14 January 2026 | |
| President | J. P. Nadda |
| Preceded by | Deepak Prakash |
| Succeeded by | Aditya Sahu |
| 7thLeader of the Opposition Jharkhand Legislative Assembly | |
| Assumed office 6 March 2025 | |
| Chief Minister | Hemant Soren |
| Preceded by | Amar Kumar Bauri |
| In office 24 February 2020 - 16 October 2023 | |
| Chief Minister | Hemant Soren |
| Preceded by | Hemant Soren |
| Succeeded by | Amar Kumar Bauri |
| 1st Chief Minister of Jharkhand | |
| In office 15 November 2000 (2000-11-15) – 17 March 2003 (2003-03-17) | |
| Preceded by | Office Established |
| Succeeded by | Arjun Munda |
| President ofJharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) | |
| In office 24 September 2006 (2006-09-24) – 17 February 2020 (2020-02-17) | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Member of theJharkhand Legislative Assembly | |
| Assumed office 23 December 2019 (2019-12-23) | |
| Preceded by | Raj Kumar Yadav |
| Constituency | Dhanwar |
| In office 23 March 2001 (2001-03-23) – 16 May 2004 (2004-05-16) | |
| Succeeded by | Chandra Prakash Choudhary |
| Constituency | Ramgarh |
| Minister of state for Environment and Forests | |
| In office 19 March 1998 – 7 November 2000 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Minister | T. R. Baalu |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 16 May 2004 (2004-05-16) – 16 May 2014 (2014-05-16) | |
| Preceded by | Tilakdhari Singh |
| Succeeded by | Ravindra Kumar Ray |
| Constituency | Kodarma |
| In office 10 March 1998 (1998-03-10) – 23 March 2001 (2001-03-23) | |
| Preceded by | Shibu Soren |
| Succeeded by | Shibu Soren |
| Constituency | Dumka |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1958-01-11)11 January 1958 (age 68) |
| Party | Bharatiya Janata Party (till 2006, 2020–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik)(2006–2020) Communist Party of India(till 1991) |
| Spouse | Shanti Murmu |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence | Ranchi |
| Alma mater | Ranchi University |
| Website | Official website |
| Source:[1] | |
Babulal Marandi (Hindi pronunciation:[Bābulālmaraṇḍi]; born 11 January 1958) is an Indian politician and a prominent tribal leader of theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) . He is currently the 7thLeader of Opposition inJharkhand legislative assembly since 2024.[1] He was the firstChief Minister of Jharkhand[2][3] and the founder ofJharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), which he later merged with BJP. He has been a Member of Parliament in the 12th, 13th 14th and 15th Lok Sabha fromJharkhand. He was also the Union State Minister (MoS) for Forests & Environment of India in the BJP-ledNational Democratic Alliance Government in 1998 to 2000. He was appointed Jharkhand BJP president on 4 July 2023 and served till 14 January 2026.[4][5][6]
Babulal was born in a remote Kodia Bandh village underTisri block ofGiridih district of the nowJharkhand province. He belongs toSantal family.[3] 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 theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.[3]
Later, he moved to Ranchi where he did his post-graduation in Geography fromRanchi University.[3] He worked as a teacher in a village primary school for a year before giving up the job to work for theSangh Parivar. He served as the organising secretary of the Jharkhand region ofVishva Hindu Parishad.[3]
In 1983, he moved toDumka and worked in theSanthal 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.[3]
In 1991, theBharatiya Janata Party gave him the ticket to contest from theDumka (Lok Sabha constituency), but he lost. In 1996, he lost toShibu Soren by just 5,000 odd votes. The BJP, in the meantime, made him president of the party's Jharkhand unit.[3]
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, aSantal, led the tally by defeatingJharkhand Mukti Morcha leaderShibu Soren, another Santhal.[3]
The victory gave an immense boost to Marandi's profile and he was included in the Union Council of Ministers, one of four ministers fromBihar.[3]
After bifurcation of Bihar in 2000 in states of Bihar and Jharkhand,NDA came to power inJharkhand with Marandi as the 1stChief 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 developGreater Ranchi to reduce the crowding in the city. However, Marandi's tenure proved rather short-lived, as he had to resign and make way forArjun Munda for the post in 2003 following pressure exerted by coalition allies primarilyJanata Dal United.
Thereafter, his increasing moved away from political mainstage of Jharkhand irrespective of NDA being in power inRanchi. In the 2004 Lok Sabha Elections, he contested fromKodarma Lok Sabha constituency as a BJP candidate. He won the seat while all the other sitting MPs of NDA from Jharkhand including union ministersYashwant Sinha andReeta Verma lost their respective seats. His differences with the state leadership continued to increase and he even started criticising the state government in public.
Marandi resigned from both the Kodarma seat and the primary membership of the BJP in 2006 and floated a new political outfit namedJharkhand 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 theNarendra Modi 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'sRavindra Kumar Ray was elected to Lok Sabha.
In February 2020, he merged JVM into BJP.[7]
Marandi mergedJharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) with the BJP on February 17, 2020, at Jagannathpur Maidan,Ranchi in presence of Union Home MinisterAmit Shah, BJP presidentJagat Prakash Nadda and former Chief Ministers of JharkhandArjun Munda andRaghubar Das.[8][9][10][11][12]
Babulal Marandi is married to Shanti Murmu.[3] His younger son Anup Marandi was killed in aNaxal attack at Chilkhari village inJharkhand'sGiridih district on 27 October 2007.[13]
| Year | Constituency | Party | Votes | % | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Dumka | BJP | 126,528 | 28.34 | Lost | |
| 1996 | 159,933 | 30.89 | Lost | |||
| 1998 | 277,334 | 47.01 | Won | |||
| 1999 | 201,141 | 36.87 | Won | |||
| 2004 | Kodarma | 366,656 | 44.4 | Won | ||
| 2006^ | Independent | 325,871 | 43 | Won | ||
| 2009 | JVM(P) | 199,462 | 25.6 | Won | ||
| 2014 | Dumka | 158,122 | 17.51 | Lost | ||
| 2019 | Kodarma | 297,416 | 24.59 | Lost | ||
^by-election
| Year | Constituency | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Opponent Party | Opponent Votes | % | Result | Margin | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Dhanwar | BJP | 106,296 | 45.35 | Nizam Uddin Ansari | JMM | 70,858 | 30.23 | Won | 35,438 | 15.12 | ||
| 2019 | JVM(P) | 52,352 | 27.58 | Lakshman Prasad Singh | BJP | 34,802 | 18.33 | Won | 17,550 | 9.25 | |||
| 2014 | 39,922 | 22.59 | Raj Kumar Yadav | CPI(ML)L | 50,634 | 28.66 | Lost | -10,712 | -6.07 | ||||
| 2001 | Ramgarh (by-election) | BJP | 55,884 | 43.4 | Nadra Begum | CPI | 35,966 | 27.93 | Won | 19,918 | 15.47 | ||
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by office created | 1stChief Minister of Jharkhand 15 November 2000 - 18 March 2003 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Office established | President ofJVM (P) September 2009 - February 2020 | Succeeded by office abolished |