RANCHI: Former Odisha Governor Raghuar Das on Friday started his second innings with BJP by formally rejoining the party in the presence of top party leaders at the state BJP headquarters in Ranchi.
State BJP President Babulal administered party membership to Das. After coming back to the BJP fold, it feels like being in the lap of the mother, he said.
Addressing the gathering after joining the party, Das vowed to come back soon into power. “We could not get the expected results in the recent Assembly elections in Jharkhand, but we need not be desperate of disappointed, we will have to fight back, we will to struggle and win back once again, and we will come back soon,” said Das. This day is historical day for me as I am taking BJPs members for the second time after 1980, he added.
Das warned the JMM-led government that the party will wait for six months and keep a watch on whether the government has fulfilled the promises made to the people or not. If they fail to fulfill their promises, the party will consider it an insult to the mandate and will launch a movement on the streets in order to establish a strong government in the state, he said.
Notably, Das was appointed the Governor of Odisha on 18 October 2023. He started his political career in Jamshedpur and was elected the first Chief Minister of Jharkhand, who completed five years tenure from 2014 to 2019. Das was also the first non-tribal Chief Minister of Jharkhand.
In the 2019 Assembly polls, Raghubar Das lost to rebel MLA Saryu Roy, who rebelled against the BJP.
The BJP’s decision to appoint Das as Odisha’s governor was seen as a move to grant Babulal Marandi greater influence in Jharkhand. Marandi, who merged his party (the JVM) with the BJP in 2020, was unable to wrest control from the JMM-led coalition in the 2024 elections.
In light of the BJP’s recent underperformance in the assembly elections, there is growing pressure within the party to focus on consolidating support from Jharkhand’s 74% non-tribal population. The tribal population, which constitutes 26% of the state, largely supported the JMM-led coalition.
It was being expected since long that he will return to active politics after resigning from the post of Odisha Governor.
Earlier on September 11, Das had changed the colour of the profile picture of Odisha Governor Raghunar Das on X and Facebook, sparking speculations over his return to Jharkhand politics once again. Interestingly, Das changed the frame of his profile picture on social media platforms to green and saffron for some time, but as soon as it went made viral on social media, it was replaced immediately with the earlier photograph.
It was also believed in the political circles that Das might contest from his old seat Jamshedpur East in the recently held Assembly elections, but due to some unknown reasons the idea was postponed and his daughter-in-law was fielded from there.