RANCHI: The debacle faced by the Congress candidate in the Rajya Sabha poll despite the ruling alliance’s numerical strength in the Assembly has triggered a blame game among the Congress, RJD and CPI (ML) leaders.
The Rajya Sabha poll result has exposed underlying fissures within the INDIA alliance in Jharkhand.
Differences between the JMM and Congress over candidate selection and political accommodation had already become evident ahead of the polls, and the unexpected result has further strained relations and intensified mistrust among the coalition partners.
Jharkhand Congress in-charge K. Raju alleged that JMM gave full support to the Congress candidate, yet RJD and CPI(ML) betrayed the alliance.
“We received all 16 votes of the Congress and four surplus votes from the JMM, taking our tally to 20. However, this result is a consequence of the betrayal by the RJD and CPI (ML),” said K. Raju.
Reacting against Raju’s statement, RJD strongly condemned the Congress in charge's statement, calling it a symbol of “vile mentality.”
RJD MLA and Minister Sanjay Prasad Yadav said that the RJD is not treacherous like the Congress and maintains a distinct identity.
“I am well aware of whose behest K Raju is making these allegations against RJD MLAs. He is also fully aware of which Congress MLAs joined the party after knocking on the doors of various other political groups,” said Yadav.
"RJD operates according to its policies and rules; all four votes of the party MLAs went to the Congress," he added.
Yadav questioned how K Raju—who was in constant contact with his own MLAs—failed to notice what was actually happening internally.
RJD General Secretary Bhola Yadav also rejected the Congress’s allegations, stating that RJD is not dependent on Congress in politics.
“The Congress should think before making statements; the party needs to do some serious introspection before making allegations against others,” said Bhola Yadav.
CPI(ML) also outrightly rejected Congress's allegations. CPI(ML) leaders clearly stated that both their MLAs voted in favour of the INDIA alliance candidate.
In a post on the social media platform X, Dipankar stated that both their MLAs voted in favour of the Congress candidate, in accordance with a pre-decided resolution.
“As for speculations over Jharkhand Rajya Sabha voting, we can assert with full responsibility that our two MLAs voted for the Congress candidate as planned. Two of our senior leaders, PBM Haldhar Mahato and CCM Geeta Mandal, duly verified the votes cast by @cpimlliberation MLAs,” posted Dipankar on X.
CPI (ML) MLA Arup Chatterjee also remarked that larger parties often manage to extricate themselves by offering convenient explanations while shifting the blame onto smaller parties.
"The reality, however, is that both party MLAs voted in favour of the INDIA bloc," he said.
Notably, BJP-backed independent candidate Parimal Nathwani made a successful return to the Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand on Thursday, while the Congress suffered a major setback as its candidate Pranav Jha lost despite the ruling alliance’s numerical strength in the Assembly.
JMM candidate Baidyanath Ram, however, won comfortably with 30 votes.
Of the total 81 votes cast by the legislators, three were declared invalid.
The outcome is being viewed as a significant political embarrassment for the Congress amid allegations of cross-voting within the INDIA bloc.
