NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party in Jharkhand is engaged in a feud with coalition partner, the Janata Dal (United), on the one hand, and is facing the prospect of its erstwhile leader Babulal Marandi taking away a sizeable section of the party's support base, on the other.

At a recent coordination committee meeting here, presided over by BJP chief Rajnath Singh, who was formerly in charge of Jharkhand affairs, the party discussed a strategy to counter the twin problems.

It was felt that the problem of lack of interaction among the Chief Minister, Ministers and party legislators, and breakdown of communication between party functionaries and those in the government must be addressed immediately by holding regular meetings. This arrangement could be institutionalised.

To meet the threat of Mr. Marandi's growing clout — it is acknowledged by the central leaders that he is very popular — the party decided to focus attention on Koderma, the constituency he vacated.

Special team

A team is to be constituted to manage the constituency, where a trial of strength is expected when an election is held.

The BJP's assessment is that there is no immediate threat to its government. "Mr. Marandi needs at least six months to set up a new party and reach a position from where he can face an Assembly election," a senior leader told The Hindu.

The party hopes that the differences between Mr. Marandi and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Shibu Soren will help to check the two forces opposed to the BJP.

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