After RS Cross-Voting, JMM Says Soren And Rahul Now Backed By 50 MLAs

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on Tuesday intensified its criticism of alliance partners Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and CPI(ML) following the Rajya Sabha elections in Jharkhand, alleging cross-voting by some legislators led to the INDIA bloc losing a key seat. The party said the outcome demonstrated that Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi could now only be considered leaders of the 50 MLAs who supported the alliance's candidates.

The controversy emerged after BJP-backed independent candidate Parimal Nathwani retained his Rajya Sabha seat despite the JMM-led INDIA alliance holding a numerical advantage in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly. The alliance had 56 MLAs, while the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had 24 legislators, four short of the 28 first-preference votes required to secure a Rajya Sabha berth. Three votes, including two from BJP MLAs and one from a Congress legislator, were declared invalid.

JMM General Secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said the election results indicated that only 50 MLAs ultimately voted for the Congress and JMM candidates. According to the party, JMM candidate Baidyanath Ram secured victory with 30 votes, while Congress candidate Pranav Jha received 20 votes and was defeated by Nathwani. Bhattacharya remarked that Hemant Soren and Rahul Gandhi were the leaders of those 50 legislators, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President Nitin Nabin represented the remaining 28 MLAs whose votes went to the BJP-backed candidate.

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Bhattacharya further claimed that Nathwani, after winning the election, publicly thanked three INDIA alliance MLAs for supporting him. While refraining from naming the legislators, he suggested that the ruling alliance had identified those who allegedly crossed party lines. He also indicated that the Rajya Sabha election results and voting patterns would be reviewed by the alliance in the coming days.

However, both the RJD and CPI(ML) strongly rejected the allegations. CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya stated that the party's two MLAs had voted for the Congress candidate as decided by the alliance. Similarly, RJD leaders denied any wrongdoing, insisting that all four of the party's legislators supported the Congress nominee during the election.

RJD MLA and State Minister Sanjay Prasad Yadav dismissed the accusations, asserting that the party had remained loyal to the alliance strategy. RJD General Secretary Bhola Yadav also urged the Congress to examine its own position before blaming allies for the defeat. The dispute has exposed tensions within the INDIA alliance in Jharkhand and raised questions about coordination among its constituent parties ahead of future political contests.

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