New Delhi: Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), not this past weekend as has been speculated and reported, but many months ago, according to state party leaders.
While the BJP hasn’t officially announced Koda’s joining and has chosen to keep suspense over his induction, his wife Geeta Koda, who joined the BJP in February, confirmed to ThePrint Monday that “Madhu Koda is in the BJP and is working for the BJP”.
On Saturday, Koda was seen on the dais with BJP leaders when Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) rebel Lobin Hembrom joined the BJP. Jharkhand BJP chief Babulal Marandi along with state in-charge Himanta Biswa Sarma offered the party’s saffron sash to both Koda and Hembrom, giving rise to speculation that Koda too was in the party.
However, both Marandi and the Jharkhand BJP put out posts on social media about only Hembrom joining the party.
A day earlier, on Friday, another former CM, Champai Soren, also joined the BJP after quitting the JMM, which will fight to retain power in Jharkhand in the state polls.
State BJP leaders told ThePrint that “Koda has been working for the party for many months and had, in fact, joined in February”.
Jharkhand BJP general secretary Manoj Singh also said “Koda is part of the BJP family and he has joined the BJP”.
“He is continuously involved in party activities and participated in a recent rally and shared the dais with leaders. He has also participated in organisation meetings,” Singh told ThePrint.
Koda’s increasing presence in Jharkhand BJP activities has drawn criticism from the JMM and some in the BJP too, as the former CM was convicted in a coal mining case in 2017 and was previously termed a “symbol of corruption” by the BJP. Both Koda and his wife were in the Congress till earlier this year.
Considering that the BJP is gearing for the state polls by targeting the JMM over alleged corruption, it is apparently trying to avoid embarrassment by publicising Koda’s induction.
A senior state BJP leader and former minister told ThePrint that “on one hand, we are making corruption a campaign issue and on the other, we are garlanding Madhu Koda. What message is the party giving? It will make our narrative weak.”
“Geeta Koda is fine but sharing the dais with Madhu Koda will affect our narrative and give negative publicity,” he conceded.
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JMM takes swipe at BJP
The JMM has been targeting the BJP for its “double standard on corruption” in the wake of Koda’s involvement in party activities.
The ruling party’s social media handle is flooded with posts on Koda. “Change party, corrupt will become king. And BJP workers will spread the carpet. This won’t work anymore. Even after seeing all this, if the dedicated workers of BJP do not save their party from these turncoats, then history will never forgive them,” says a post.
“Today, former chief minister Madhu Koda also joined BJP—but no BJP leader said a word to welcome him—which does not seem fair,” says the party in another post.
“The BJP gives lectures on corruption and the PM spoke about it from the Red Fort. The BJP used to call Madhu Koda the epitome of corruption but the party has embraced him today. What happened to their corruption plank? Has the washing machine method been adopted for Koda? Babulal Marandi should tweet about Koda’s joining, why is he ashamed of it? Marandi should promote Koda as the CM face,” JMM general secretary and spokesperson Vinod Pandey told ThePrint.
Koda’s career
Madhu Koda began his career in 2000 as part of the All Jharkhand Students’ Union, winning from Jaganathpur on a BJP ticket in the 2000 Bihar elections. After Jharkhand was carved out of the state, Koda briefly served as minister in the Babulal Marandi government.
In 2005, miffed at the BJP for denying a ticket, he contested and won the assembly polls as an Independent but eventually extended support to the Arjun Munda-led BJP government.
In 2006, Koda was one of three independent legislators to withdraw support from the Munda government, leading to its fall. Days later, he staked claim to form a government with the support of the JMM, the Congress, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
That government too didn’t last long—in 2008, the JMM withdrew support citing corruption, forcing Koda to resign as CM.
On 30 November, 2009, the then Singhbhum MP was arrested in an alleged disproportionate assets and money laundering case. Koda and his associates were accused of amassing around Rs 4,000 crore by illegally brokering mining deals.
He remained in jail for over 44 months until he was granted bail in August 2013. Since then, the former CM has been facing several corruption and money laundering cases, with the Jharkhand High Court staying trial in one such case last year. He’s currently out on bail.
On 16 December, 2017, a special CBI court in Delhi sentenced him to three-year jail in one of eight coal scam cases in which he stands accused. After Koda petitioned against the sentence, the Delhi High Court stayed it in 2018.
However, the same year, the Election Commission held him guilty of underreporting election expenses and disqualified him from contesting polls for the next three years.
In 2019—months before the Jharkhand polls—Koda appealed the sentence in the Supreme Court. Although the apex court refused to allow him to contest the elections, it issued a notice to the election body.
After Koda’s arrest in 2009, Geeta took control of his Jai Bharat Samanta Party, which he had founded that year. Of the nine candidates the party fielded for the 2009 assembly elections, only Geeta won from Jaganathpur. That year, Koda too won the Lok Sabha election from Singhbhum.
In 2019, the Jai Bharat Samanta Party merged with the Congress. That year, Geeta contested and won the Lok Sabha polls as a Congress candidate. She beat BJP’s Laxman Gilua by 72,155 votes. Geeta, however, lost the seat to the JMM this year.
Koda has this year moved the Delhi High Court seeking suspension of his conviction in the coal block allocation case so that he can contest the Jharkhand polls.
Why Kodas are important to BJP
Geeta Koda hails from the Ho Scheduled Tribe, which has a dominance in Singhbhum and where the BJP is looking to gain a foothold.
A second senior state BJP leader told ThePrint: “In Jharkhand, Ho tribals are dominant in Singhbhum area, and after the demise of former Jharkhand BJP president Laxman Gilua from Covid, there is a dearth of leaders from that tribe. Geeta Koda comes from the Ho sect and she has a good image, having been a teacher in the past. The BJP is banking on the Koda family to get a foothold in Singhbhum.”
“The party is hoping to use the Kodas’ strength in the tribal areas. It won only two reserved seats in the last assembly election. While a few party leaders are against Koda sharing the dais and joining the BJP, every move is justified in an electoral war,” the leader added.
Geeta Koda had joined the BJP this February, before the May Lok Sabha election. At the time, Marandi had hinted about Madhu Koda also switching to the party, breaking his ties with the Congress.
Koda had campaigned for Geeta in the Lok Sabha election and was last month seen with her and other BJP leaders during the Yuva Akrosh rally organised by party youth workers in Ranchi. Last week, he had also addressed a BJP meeting in another district where he asked party workers to make the tribals aware of their rights on forest land and how the JMM was not giving them benefits.
Geeta told ThePrint that “we are not a separate entity but one entity.”
“Madhuji and I are working for the party, and we are raking up the issue of corruption of the JMM government and its sidelining of tribals. We are hopeful that the BJP will form a government after this assembly election. As far as tickets are concerned, it’s for the party to decide,” she added.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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