The independent-backed National Democratic Alliance (NDA) party won one of the two Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand, the other going to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate, people aware of the developments told HT. While the election results are yet to be officially announced, several Jharkhand leaders have reacted to the news.
According to the news agency PTIThe ballot boxes were marred by mutual voting. Parimal Nathwani, the independent candidate supported by the NDA defeated Congress MP Pranav Jha, and JMM candidate Baidyanath Ram was elected to the other seat.
Reports of cross-voting emerged after Nathwani got 28 votes, though the NDA’s tally in Jharkhand was just 24 votes. Meanwhile, Congress Jha got just 20 votes.
Congress state in-charge K Raju alleged that the independent candidate used “money” to influence the results in his favour. “All 16 Congress votes are intact. JMM gave 4 votes, Congress got 20 votes. This situation arose because the independent candidate used money…” he told the media when asked about the result.
Meanwhile, sources said JMM candidate Ram received 30 votes in the elections. According to PTI, three votes – two from the BJP and one from the Congress – were found invalid.
Inside Maths Survey in Jharkhand
The 24 NDA MLAs in the Jharkhand Assembly are divided as follows: 21 from the BJP and one each from the LJP (Ram Vilas), AJSU and JD(U). There were doubts over whether the NDA-backed candidate would win the Rajya Sabha polls, as victory would have required 28 first preference votes.
The India Bloc has 56 MLAs in the state, comprising 34 from JMM, 16 from Congress, four from RJD and two from CPI(ML) Liberation.
Two days before the June 18 elections, the NDA shifted its MLAs to the Radisson Blu Hotel in Ranchi, raising questions about whether the party feared pre-election poaching attempts.
When asked about the gap between the four MLAs at that time, BJP leader Babulal Marandi said: “There are 81 MLAs; I have repeatedly mentioned that there are 81 votes. These 81 voters will then exercise their choice and cast their votes for the candidate.”
Voting is scheduled till 4 pm today, and as reported earlier, all 24 NDA MLAs have cast their votes. They arrived together on the bus from the hotel where they were staying.
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While the cross-vote was announced on Thursday, the India bloc expressed confidence in its unity. “All 56 MLAs of the India Bloc united, we will win both the Rajya Sabha seats,” Congress Suresh Paetta said.
Long before the poll results were announced, the BJP was declaring victory in the NDA-backed Independent newspaper.
One of the Rajya Sabha seats in the state fell vacant after the death of JMM co-founder Shibu Soren. The other vacancy is due to the expiration of BJP member Deepak Prakash’s term on June 21.
(With inputs from Hizb ut-Tahrir correspondent Chetan Chauhan)
