The ruling Jharkhand-led India Bloc accused the BJP of using “money power” and encouraging cross-voting after NDA-backed independent candidate Parimal Nathwani won the Rajya Sabha seat on Thursday.
JMM candidate Baidyanath Ram and Nathwani won the two Senate seats from the state, people aware of the developments told HT.
While the victory of the JMM candidate was not a surprise, the polling in the seat won by Parimal Nathwani was marred by allegations of cross-voting. This is because the NDA has only 24 MLAs, but at least 28 votes were needed to win.
Congress rival Pranav Jha lost the race for this seat. JMM is allied with the INDI Alliance.
Read also | Jharkhand Rajya Sabha poll results: NDA-backed candidate wins after cross vote, other seat goes to JMM
“He used the money”
When asked about the results and Congress rival Pranav Jha’s loss to Natwane, state party in-charge K Raju claimed that the result was influenced by money. “All 16 Congress votes are intact. JMM gave 4 votes and Congress got 20 votes. This situation arose because the independent candidate used money,” Raju told the media.
Jharkhand Minister and Congress leader Deepika Pandey Singh also accused the BJP of facilitating victory through monetary influence.
“The BJP fielded a corporator as an independent candidate and won the election using financial muscle. The BJP is promoting horse trading. However, we are happy that all the Congress MLAs remained united and their opinion was polled in favor of the Congress candidate,” Singh said, as quoted by PTI.
These allegations were similar to those made by leaders of the ruling coalition before voting began earlier in the day.
Before the start of voting, JMM leader Manoj Pandey accused the BJP of encouraging “money-driven politics” and alleged that wealthy individuals were being used to influence the elections.
“The BJP’s strategy is to make India’s politics dependent on money-minded individuals. In Jharkhand, a money-minded industrialist has been sent. “Gujarat will use the money to secure votes for them,” Pandey told ANI.
The BJP did not respond to these accusations.
“I thank the BJP…”: Nathwani
Thanking his supporters after the victory, Nathwani said, “I thank all the people of Jharkhand. Especially the MLAs, and the BJP for giving me the opportunity to file my nomination, and helping me in the elections. I am grateful to our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Bhai, and all the BJP people here. I am grateful to all the workers, volunteers and people who voted for me in the BJP, and I will continue to work for Jharkhand.”
He added, referring to the counting of votes, “Of the 30 votes I obtained, 28 were valid, and two votes were rejected for technical reasons.”
Congressional candidate accepts the ruling
Despite the defeat, Congress candidate Pranav Jha thanked his party for nominating him.
“I would like to express my gratitude to my party for nominating an organizational worker like me as a candidate from Jharkhand. I also thank all our MLAs, who worked hard and left no stone unturned in their efforts,” Jha said after the results.
Deepika Pandey Singh congratulated the JMM candidate: “My congratulations to JMM’s Baidyanath Ram; we had a tough fight and our leaders were sound.”
Rajya Sabha elections were held to fill two vacancies from Jharkhand. One seat is still vacant Shibu Soren, co-founder of JMM, dies. The second seat fell vacant as BJP MP Deepak Prakash completed his term on June 21.
