Sources in the BJP said Marandi met party president J.P. Nadda and national vice president Om Prakash Mathur in New Delhi on February 8 and discussed the merger.

 

The JVM-P has called an executive body meeting on Tuesday where a resolution to merge the party with the BJP might be passed.

 

"Till now there is no decision to join the BJP. Any such thing will be decided in the executive body meeting of the party," said Marandi.

 

Party sources said the merger is the core agenda of the party meeting on Tuesday.

 

The BJP is looking forward to revive the party's image among the tribal community. The first non-tribal Chief Minister Raghubar Das was not accepted by the tribal community and the party had to suffer a loss in the majority of the tribal seats in the 2019 Assembly polls.

 

In order to make the merger smooth, the JVM has expelled it's two legislators; Pradeep Yadav and Bandhu Tirkey, who were against it.

 

Yadav was issued a show cause notice on February 4 where he was asked to respond in 48 hours on his statements in the media. He was then expelled on February 6.

 

Yadav was also accused of making comments against the party supremo which have been widely published in the media.

 

Tirkey was sacked on January 21 after he was accused of anti-party activities. He was also served a show cause notice to which he didn't respond.

 

The action against both the legislators is being seen as coming one step closer to the party's merger with the BJP.