A different Marandi to address Parivartan rally on February 6

Vijay Deo Jha Ranchi February 6, 2008

Twenty six years ago, on February 6, Babulal Marandi was baptised into politics. The former Chief Minister delivered his maiden speech as a politician at the Dumka's Gandhi Maidan, that too in the presence of Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.It is a mere coincidence that Marandi will be speaking again on February 6 at the sprawling Morabadi grounds. But, he would have a different script. Twenty six years down the career, Marandi has a different vision. And his affiliations have also changed.

He would now be speaking from a platform hosted by his own political party Jharkhand Vikash Morcha (JVM) that he formed after his divorce with the BJP. The Parivartan rally (a rally for change), Marandi claims, will set the agenda for a change in Jharkhand.

The rally is expected to be attended by former Chief Ministers Mulayam Singh Yadav, Farooq Abdullah, Chandrababu Naidu, Omprakash Chautala besides political heavyweights like Amar Singh, Rammohan Rao and Brindavan Goswami.Hoardings, banners and the party flags of the JVM, placards displaying the objectives behind the rally have flooded the State capital.

The hoardings portray Marandi dressed up as a farmer who is committed to fight against hunger, fear and corruption.At the Morabadi grounds, the preparations for the rally are in full swing. "The proposed stage would display the rural Jharkhand; a model of hut, trees and the rising sun in the back ground has been designed to attract people" said Jaidev Haldhar, the artist working on this model.Marandi has been taking personal interest to make the rally successful.

Taking to this correspondent, he said that it would be a historical rally and this rally would bring a change in the politics of the State. Perhaps, he was hinting towards the scores of leaders coming to participate in the rally.

Looking towards the cloudy sky, he seemed to be wary about the bad weather, but said philosophically: "You see that every auspicious occasion is sprinkled with rain. It is a good omen."

Meanwhile, people have started coming to Ranchi to participate in the rally. While, some four thousand workers from Sahibganj reached to the capital a day before the rally said one of the leaders of the party. The politicians across the State are also keenly interested to see the outcome of the rally.

One top politician and strong bete-noire of Marandi termed the rally as the conclave of five former Chief Ministers. But, the party cadre are not dampened by this. Balram Toppo from Dumka who attired himself in colour of the party flag asserted that there would be a sea of crowd on Wednesday to listen to Marandi. In one of the corners of the Morahbadi ground a group of tribal artists were beating drums and swaying on the tune of the folk songs. They had come to attend the rally and were praying their god to stop rain and to bless their leader for a success on Wednesday.