THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Ranchi, January 28: BJP President and Jharkhand’s first Chief Minister, Babulal Marandi, got a pat from an unexpected quarter today.
Congress MLA and Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon said there was no dishonesty during the reign of the first Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Babulal Marandi, who was at the helm for around two and half years after Jharkhand was created on November 15 2000. “Officers were also generally honest. Today, the time has changed,” Oraon said without elaborating further.
Marandi, who has been spearheading a campaign against Chief Minister Hemant Soren, embroiled in corruption charges, was by his side when Oraon, a former IPS officer, made this comment.
Oraon, the finance minister in the Hemant Soren cabinet, was speaking at the launching ceremony of a book-Jharkhand ek Bechain Rajya ka Sukh-penned by senior journalist Shyam Kishore Chaubey at the Ranchi Press Club.
Marandi sacrificed govt
The book narrates how Marandi sacrificed his government in 2003 instead of succumbing to the illegal demands of corrupt ministers, including Land and Revenue Minister late Madhu Singh. Ironically, Marandi’s successor, Arjun Munda, sacked Madhu Singh on June 30 2004, after an audio clip of getting Rs 50 lakh graft from a Delhi-based businessman went viral.
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Senior journalist Padam Shri Balbir Dutt presided over the function.
Oraon also admitted that due to the state’s lack of financial management, its development needs to happen correctly. “Still, 60% of the people in the state are poor. Constructing big buildings is not an achievement for the state’s people. Developing the state is the most significant achievement. All people need to make joint efforts to develop the state,” he pointed out.
Marandi on the development of Jharkhand
While releasing the book, published by Prabhat Prakashan, Marandi said that in this book, the author has shown his restlessness for Jharkhand.
“This kind of restlessness should be there among all the people of the state for the development of Jharkhand so that the future of Jharkhand will be golden and sound,” he said.
He said that all the writers should also show their restlessness towards the development; only then will the state develop rapidly. He said that after the separation of Jharkhand, local people are taking part in the state’s power, which is a good thing.
Development of a state is a slow process: Marandi
Marandi said that no country or state can develop suddenly. “It takes time to get it done. After Jharkhand became separate, the state developed, and law and order improved. The brotherly atmosphere that existed before the formation of the state is no longer there,” he said.
Others present on the occasion included senior journalist Baijnath Mishra, Economist Ramesh Sharan and State Food Commission Chairman Himanshu Shekhar Chaudhary.