Marandi: Breathing fire

Deoghar/Dumka, June 9: ?I have never seen a crowd as huge as this waiting to welcome me even when I was the chief minister.?

This is what former chief minister Babulal Marandi told Stephen Marandi when the two got off from the Patliputra Express at the Jasidih station.

Addressing the gathering, the former chief minister today reiterated that he had not allowed corruption to flourish during his regime and had even ordered vigilance probes into several cases to book dishonest officials.

He said the ruling party in the state had completely overlooked the problems of people in Jharkhand, which ?reflects on its apathy.?

After the formation of Jharkhand Vikash Morcha (JVM) a few weeks ago, ?Marandi plus? came to their home turf for the first time.

The former chief minister said he left the BJP because corruption in the state during the Arjun Munda regime has started ?touching the sky?.

?I was deeply hurt when people used to tell me about the apathy of the government. Then, I decided to come out from the party and initiated a fight against rising corruption in Jharkhand. I am not at all hopeful of the possibilities of any significant developments in the state as long as the current government stays,? he said.

Marandi also accused his successor of dumping all ambitious projects, which were sanctioned during his regime for the development of Jharkhand.

However, the JVM leader denied charges that he was making efforts to destabilise the Arjun Munda government by unnecessarily getting into negative criticism.

?I am not a pessimist and I never criticise meaninglessly. Just wait and watch. Munda government will soon be out of power,? he added.

On the office-of-profit issue, Stephen Marandi said the Election Commission would definitely take strict action against the state government.

About the JVM, he said the aim of forming the JVM was not to make it a B team of any political party.