This story is from August 12, 2014

‘Rivalry Between Simon Marandi & Hemlal Murmu Could Lead To Internal Rift’

Dumka: Even though Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s state unit is celebrating senior Jharkand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Simon Marandi defecting to the saffron party, political analysts believe that the development could give rise to a prolonged conflict within the party ahead of the assembly elections.
‘Rivalry Between Simon Marandi & Hemlal Murmu Could Lead To Internal Rift’
Dumka: Even though Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s state unit is celebrating senior Jharkand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Simon Marandi defecting to the saffron party, political analysts believe that the development could give rise to a prolonged conflict within the party ahead of the assembly elections.
Dumka: Even though Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s state unit is celebrating senior Jharkand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Simon Marandi defecting to the saffron party, political analysts believe that the development could give rise to a prolonged conflict within the party ahead of the assembly elections.
Marandi has been at loggerheads with Hemlal Murmu — another JMM turncoat — and their rivalry could adversely affect the party’s prospect in Santhal Pargana, experts said.

Murmu and Marandi are known for their differences owing to their political stakes in the Rajmahal parliamentary constituency. Murmu, who lost the recent Lok Sabha election from Rajmahal as a BJP nominee, had left JMM after the tribal party decided to field Congress turncoat Vijay Hasda from the constituency.
Even Marandi was peeved with chief minister Hemant Soren for not fielding his son Dinesh Marandi from the seat. Soren’s decision, however, proved to be successful as Hasda won while the state was swept by the Narendra Modi wave.
Political analysts believe that though Marandi leaving JMM has not come as a surprise to anybody, but him joining hands with BJP — a party which he consistently criticized in the past — has raised many eyebrows.
He is believed to have been convince to join BJP by the party’s Arjun Munda faction, whereas one of Godda MP Nishikant Dubey, one of his great critics, is believed to have been instrumental in bringing Hemlal into the party fold.

Marandi decision to join BJP is also being viewed in the backdrop of the prevailing rift within the party. “Both Hemlal and Simon have significant political stake in the Rajmhal parliamentary constituency.
As of now, with Simon joining the party, BJP will have to bear the cost of the differences between the two tribal heavyweights,” a senior BJP leader said.
Observers believe that Marandi will not really help BJP in the next assembly elections as his wife Sushila Hasda is still associated with JMM and is a strong contender for a party ticket from the Littipara assembly seat, which has been represented by the couple for the last four decades. Simon’s political credentials are dubious as well — he has in the past left JMM, been elected as the Rajmhahal MP as a Congress candidate and later rejoined the tribal party.
Moreover, BJP is likely to face an upheaval within the organization if senior leaders aspiring for a party ticket from Littipara are ignored to accommodate Simon.
Himanshu Mishra, political adviser to the chief minister, said: “In the past, Sushila remained with JMM and represented Littipara constituency for two consecutive terms while Simon had joined Congress. As such, Sushilaji’s status in JMM will remain unchanged even though her husband has joined BJP.”
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