NEW DELHI: Fourteen years after he quit BJP to float his own party, Babulal Marandi , who was the first chief minister of Jharkhand, is set to return to the saffron fold. He had quit the party three years after being dropped as chief minister due to revolt by alliance partners, which had the backing of a section of state BJP leaders.

Marandi will join BJP at a gala rally at Ranchi on February 17 in the presence of home minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J P Nadda. His return is seen as a major boost for the party, which lost a major chunk of its tribal vote base since he floated Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM).

Talking to TOI, Marandi said he had a better understanding of the state's people now and would strengthen BJP with his experience. A long-time RSS worker, Marandi said BJP was a natural choice as it was based on ideology .

"There were offers from various parties to join hands with them. However, Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha are family affairs and the leadership is reserved for a particular family," Marandi said, adding, "BJP was the natural choice as I was associated with it since childhood."

A long-time pracharak, Marandi belongs to the tribal Santhal community, which is settled in Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Assam. He also worked as organisation secretary with BJP's Vananchal committee. His presence will help the party in Bengal, which has pockets of Santhal residents. Assembly polls in West Bengal will be due next year.

When Jharkhand was formed in 2000 after bifurcation of Bihar, Marandi took over as its first CM although BJP was short of majority and had to take the support of independents, including Samaresh Singh, who later withdrew support. Marandi was replaced with Arjun Munda .

