RANCHI: After the cross-voting, allegedly by RJD and CPI (ML) MLAs led to the INDIA alliance losing a crucial seat in the recently concluded Rajya Sabha elections, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on Tuesday lashed out at its allies, saying Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi are not their leaders anymore.
Coming down heavily on the Left and the RJD, JMM General Secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said both Soren and Rahul Gandhi are the leaders of the 50 MPs who voted for the alliance candidate.
In the recent RS elections in Jharkhand, BJP-backed independent candidate Parimal Nathwani retained his seat despite the JMM-led INDIA alliance having 56 MLAs in the 81-member Assembly.
The BJP-led NDA has 24 MLAs, four short of the minimum of 28 first-preference votes required to get a berth in the Upper House.
Meanwhile, three votes, two from BJP and one Congress were declared invalid.
According to JMM, out of the total 81 MLAs, 50 voted for the Congress and JMM candidates in the elections. Of these, JMM candidate Baidyanath Ram secured a seat by winning 30 votes, while Congress candidate Pranav Jha received only 20 votes, losing to the BJP-backed candidate.
"Therefore, Hemant Soren and Rahul Gandhi are the leaders of these 50 MLAs," said Bhattacharya, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and BJP National President Nitin Nabin are the leaders of the remaining 28 MLAs whose votes went to the BJP-backed candidate.
Speaking to the media, the JMM General Secretary also noted that following his victory, BJP-backed candidate Nathwani had expressed his gratitude by specifically naming the three MLAs from the INDIA alliance who voted for him.
JMM General Secretary also indicated --without explicitly naming them-- that the ruling alliance MLAs who voted for Parimal Nathwani have been identified. He also talked about reviewing the Rajya Sabha election results very soon.
Meanwhile, both the RJD and the CPI(ML) strongly rejected the allegations, stressing that their legislators sticked to the alliance plan and voted in favour of the Congress candidate.
"As for speculations over Jharkhand Rajya Sabha voting, we can tell with full responsibility that our two MLAs voted for the Congress candidate as planned," CPI (ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said in a post on X.
RJD MLA and Minister Sanjay Prasad Yadav also rejected the charge, saying, “RJD is not treacherous like the Congress and maintains a distinct identity.”
He asserted that all four RJD MLAs voted for the Congress candidate. RJD General Secretary Bhola Yadav echoed the criticism, saying that the Congress should introspect before blaming others.