BJP today appointed Tala Marandi its Jharkhand unit president as it sought to strike a balance in the tribal state by making a member of the community as its party chief after it had made a non-tribal, Raghubar Das as Chief Minister.
The 52-year-old leader is also an MLA from the state replaces Ravindra Kumar Ray, who is a Lok Sabha MP.
Das is the first non-tribal chief minister of the state and the party has reached out to the Scheduled Tribes by appointing Marandi as its state chief.
"Our National President has appointed Tala Marandi as the state unit chief," state party spokesman Pradip Sinha said in Ranchi.
Marandi is a two-time MLA from Borio constituency.
