Babulal Marandi interview: ‘Soren family has disclosed 33 properties to EC and IT dept… as per documents with me, they have 108 properties worth Rs 250 cr’

I am facing certain difficulties. I did not get the Leader of Opposition (LoP) status in the Assembly, so my voice has remained very weak in the House. Na idhar ke rehne diya, na udhar ke (I was left dangling in between). It is not in my nature to scream here and there in the Assembly. The system is such (with disqualification plea against me pending with the Speaker). But outside, I have fulfilled the responsibilities given to me by the party. For instance, going to meet the family members who have been victims of crime, raising the issues which I consider important. Dumka is one such example. And when I am unable to do so, I make sure we have a local presence.

The same system also delayed the decision when MLAs of your erstwhile party, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), switched to the BJP in 2014. Now your LoP status hangs in the balance. Do you think the system of disposal of pleas needs to change so that it is not abused politically?

The situation was different then as my party had not merged with the BJP (and only the MLAs had joined), but yes, intentionally it was delayed. However, the situation is different this time as even the EC recognised the merger — JVM(P) with the BJP — and now there is no JVM(P) which exists. But the government does not want to give me the right (of LoP). I think a time limit needs to be set for the disposal of these cases to avoid abuse of the process.

As a JVM(P) leader earlier, you tore into the BJP saying that all institutions have been compromised or are being misused. Now that you are in the party again, has it been a difficult choice considering the changes that we see in the party now?

There has been no difference. The ideology continues–from Atal Bihari Vajpayee to PM Modi–and the constitution of the BJP is the same. Earlier BJP sought the Ayodhya temple construction and had told supporters to wait for its full majority. Now there has been the abrogation of Article 370, and the construction of the temple is underway. As regards the institutions, please recall that Lalu Prasad helped Deve Gowda become the PM, but then later the CBI arrested him in the fodder scam and he went to jail. Even in Jharkhand, Shibu Soren went to jail in the bribery case. There are many such instances when politicians were jailed when there was no BJP in power. Today it appears that there are too many of these instances — raids, jailing of political leaders — because the dirt is more. There is nothing new. Considering the amount of money that is being recovered in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh or even in Jharkhand, there is nothing wrong in these raids. I would say that rather than misuse, the PM is utilising the agencies. This is not vendetta politics.

In the Assembly on September 5, CM Hemant Soren accused you of changing colours more than a chameleon. Did it hurt?

Why doesn’t he (Hemant Soren) reflect upon himself. Didn’t the JMM form a government with the BJP? I quit BJP, but I did not join any other party. But who is he to accuse me when he himself craves for power. Aaj agar BJP keh de ki aa jao sarkar bana lo to dekhiye ye daud ke chale aayenge nange paaon. (If today BJP asks JMM to form a government with it, then Hemant Soren will come for it running barefoot). Hemant said that “he is the son of Shibu Soren, the revolutionary”. But I know very well what kind of revolutionary Shibu Soren is. He went to Tihar jail so many times.

Could you elaborate on your charges against Sorens?

The Soren family has given the details of only 33 properties to the Election Commission and Income Tax department. However, as per the documents in my possession, 108 properties are in the family’s names valued at Rs 250 crore — from Ranchi to Dumka to Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. They hire a big-time lawyer to avoid any investigations and if the Soren family is honest, why are they running away?

Since you rejoined BJP there have been murmurs about your “non-acceptance” in its fold, even as the party lost all four by-elections including in two ST seats?

Leaders have ambitions, especially in a party which is not dynastic. There may be differences of opinion, but isn’t it a natural course? But we in BJP sit and decide on various issues and communicate important issues to our central leadership. The UPA won all four bypolls, but BJP’s vote percentage has increased compared to the 2019 election. This I call improvement. The actual measure of my leadership or performance will come when we fight the next Assembly elections. I can say that the party’s acceptance is growing among the people, and I am not worried as of now.

The Governor has kept the suspense on Hemant Soren’s disqualification over owning a mining lease, even though it was the BJP’s complaint that led to the matter being sent to the EC. Why do you think it is being delayed?

First of all we don’t know what is inside the envelope. Didn’t our CM too seek extension after extension in replying to the EC’s letter. So why is he in a hurry? It is we, the Opposition, who are making the demands, but neither EC nor the Governor have communicated anything to him. This reflects that he (CM Soren) is a thief. If there was no such doubts then one would have continued the work. The guilt-conscious mind is seeking to dispose of the matter as soon as possible.

But one cannot rule out the BJP’s “Operation Lotus” which would affect state politics.

If one believes, then that can happen anytime, so what is new in this. If this has to happen, then it can happen in three months or six months, what can you (CM) do then? If your party MLAs get angry or confused then where is BJP in this? We don’t know what is in there and that is why we are also waiting and meanwhile we are demanding CM’s disqualification and an FIR against him under PC Act. But we can’t order the Governor to do so. Why is the CM so worried? He should focus on his work.

A section within the BJP feels that the party should not form the government and should rather keep discrediting the Soren-led government?

If somebody says or writes good or bad about me, then do I really become that? One will not rise or fall out of sight based on that. We will be known by our work and who we are and it is very basic. So why should we discredit him or the government? If they are doing wrong then they themselves will get discredited. The government has been formed for the last 32 months, but what has it actually done? Talk about roads, water, electricity, education or health – everything is in shambles. All that is happening is illegal mining of sand, coal, iron, among other things.

But the government has announced Universal Pension, doubling of incurable disease fund, 13-month salaries to the police, increase in honorarium of Anganwadi workers etc. Your comments?

It is good to listen to all the announcements. In reality, in villages, the situation is abysmal. Lack of implementation of various schemes is one of the key challenges. The Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) are not getting social security benefits. From the CM’s constituency, Barhait, I received a complaint that free ration (provided by the Centre) has not been given to many PVTG families for several months. I wrote to the chief secretary, but there is a limit to what I can do. If there is an NFSA quota issue based on 2011 Census population percentage, we will talk to the central government, but the CM does not want to take help and all he wants to do is politics.

In his speech during the trust vote, CM Soren created a stir by proposing 1932 as the cut-off year as proof of land records for domicile (whose draft bill was cleared by his cabinet later). You had yourself resigned from the CM’s post over the domicile issue. What are your views on it now?

I will tell you how the CM (Soren) politicises the issue. When I was the CM we had called an all-party meeting which was attended by a senior JMM leader and a consensus was reached on replicating the Bihar government’s policy for defining a local which was needed for government appointments. Bihar government’s 1982 circular defined local as someone whose forefathers’ names appear in the ‘record of rights’ — a document with details of the property/land linked with the last survey whenever conducted. We adopted the same and said that those locals will be given priority in the 3rd or 4th grade jobs at the district level over non-locals in case the marks are tied. Anyway, the matter exploded and it went to the court…which set aside the notification. Opposition parties blamed us. However, when the JMM formed the government with BJP, Soren did not take any decision on the domicile policy. In the previous Assembly they said that 1932 land records proof cannot be the only basis.