Oraon joins BSP, to contest from Ranchi LS seat

Oraon (40), the chairperson of the Jharkhand Against Corruption movement, had been approached by the Aam Aadmi Party. The AAP saw him as an ideal candidate to lead the party in Jharkhand, but talks went nowhere. “Someone from the AAP had come to meet me at home. After that, no one contacted me. The AAP in Jharkhand is over; there is no enthusiasm anymore,” said Oraon.

He was known as Durga Munda before his activism days, had contested the 2013 Ranchi Municipal Corporation’s Mayoral elections. Following the seizure of money allegedly intended for distribution among voters, the election was called off despite voting having taken place. A re-poll has not yet taken place.

On Monday, Oraon claimed that Mayawati’s outlook on social justice had attracted him. “I have been fighting for justice. What Mayawatiji has done is the same – to get rid of social inequalities that exist around us,” he said, adding that the corruption charges against his new leader did not worry him.

Oraon was even given a security detail and took extreme measures to protect his whereabouts in 2008 after he filed the PIL against Koda. The change in surname was made in the PIL to protect himself. That PIL led to a CBI inquiry, and the arrest of Koda and three of his ministers.