RANCHI: In a major relief to former chief minister Babulal Marandi, who recently merged his party JVM (P) into BJP, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has given its approval for the same and seized party’s name and symbol as well.
Official confirmation from Commission, however, is yet to come but sources revealed that the order has already been passed in this regard. “The Commission is satisfied that JVM (P) has merged with the BJP, a national party. Accordingly, the Commission has decided under the provisions of Paragraph l6 of the Symbols Order, that on its merger with the BJP, the JVM(P) has ceased to exist as a separate political party and the name of the ‘Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik)’ be removed from the list of political parties. The election symbol ‘Comb’, allotted to the ‘Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) shall stand frozen until further orders,” stated the issued by EC.
Welcoming the decision taken by EC, state BJP president Deepak Prakash said that the decision has strengthened democracy as the matter was deliberately being hyped by the state government. Notably, Marandi’s membership had been kept under suspense in the Assembly.